Michele Kang formalizes her takeover of Olympique Lyonnais femmes and announces the construction of her own stadium

The American businesswoman formalized her purchase of the majority of shares in the OL women’s section on Thursday and announced several major projects, including that of a training center and a stadium dedicated solely to players.

A revolution. Michele Kang, American businesswoman, announced Thursday February 8 her purchase of 52.9% of the women’s section of Olympique Lyonnais during a press conference, alongside Vincent Ponsot, recently appointed general manager of the ‘Women’s OL. The one who is also majority owner of the American women’s club Washington Spirit has expressed her ambitions to go beyond trophies and “professionalize women’s football”.

“Our agreement is finally closed, it’s officialconfirms Michele Kang from the desk at Groupama Stadium. I know everyone has been waiting for this for a very long time, but there was no need to rush. (…) I am delighted to tell you that we want to move women’s football forward. It’s not only about winning trophies, but also professionalizing the discipline. OL women have won a lot of trophies, but some clubs have caught up with us, so we must continue our efforts.”

A 100% female stadium, with a targeted audience

Beyond the formalization of this transaction, in the pipeline since the end of last season, the 64-year-old businesswoman announces her desire to have a training center and a stadium entirely dedicated to women’s OL: “We have a perfect training center, but mainly for men, and it is not at the level of what women deserve. So we are going to expand it, probably on another site, and the next step will be the stadium. Today, the women play important matches at Groupama Stadium, but most of the matches are at the training center, with a capacity of only 1,200 people, which is not acceptable. We need a between two. We are going to build our own stadium, which will accommodate between 15,000 and 20,000 spectators.”

Recently becoming the owner of the London City Lionesses, a women’s club in the English second division, Michele Kang also wants to develop a training method focused on women’s performance, which will be implemented across her various clubs.

“Women are not small men, so they should not be trained with methods like men and for men.”

Michele Kang, owner of OL women

at a press conference

Last point mentioned, that of the implementation of a strategy to attract more audiences for women’s meetings, including opinion polls on the profile of supporters and marketing campaigns.