The announcement of Jean-Michel Aulas’ departure after 36 years as president of Olympique Lyonnais was met with an unanimous outpouring of reactions from the world of sports and politics However, former Lyon player Hatem Ben Arfa chose to express a dissenting voice. The forward, who came through the club’s youth academy and played for Lyon from 2002 to 2008, posted the following message on Twitter: “You will not be missed in football. Goodbye.”
In recent years, the relationship between the two men has been marked by a mix of displays of affection and media jabs. In a 2019 interview with L’Équipe, Ben Arfa stated, “Returning to OL is not possible. I couldn’t work with Aulas. Yes, he likes me, but in hindsight, it would be very complicated.”
Other former players such as Karim Benzema had fonder words to say about of the 74-yea-old, the Ballon d’Or winner posting a story on instagram of the pair with the words “Jefe”, meaning “Boss” in Spanish.
GFFN | George Boxall
