Paris (AFP)

Tony Parker, the former star basketball player now head of Asvel, will integrate "in the coming months" the board of directors of OL Group, said Wednesday the president of Olympique Lyonnais Jean-Michel Aulas , bringing about a new rapprochement between the two clubs.

"We will make sure to make room for him in the coming months on the board of directors of OL Groupe, it is a decision that was taken yesterday (Tuesday) at the CA", said the director, before justifying this announcement at a press breakfast in Paris.

"First, there is a partnership with Tony Parker on the basketball side. Two, there is a convergence of visions on what high-level clubs should be in terms of organization, preparation, capital investment ", he explained.

"Tony has also integrated, alongside us, the capital of OL Reign in Seattle (women's football franchise, editor's note). And then, in our partnership, there is quite a bit of international development in China and the United States which will be made by Tony Parker who becomes, more than an ambassador of the OL brand, a real partner ", also said" JMA ".

The former leader of the San Antonio Spurs, retired from the floor since last summer, chairs the Asvel club (Elite), historically attached to Villeurbane (Lyon suburb), in which he has been the majority shareholder since 2014.

In 2019, basketball players and footballers got so close that OL Groupe, the listed holding company controlling Olympique Lyonnais, entered the capital of Asvel. It has owned 31.67% of the shares since December.

The cooperation between the two entities should continue with the construction of an arena in Décines-Charpieu, just next to the OL stadium, which would welcome basketball players from 2023.

The acquisition of the Reign FC women's football club, renamed OL Reign, announced in December, cost OL Groupe nearly EUR 3.1 million. The French holding company owns 89.5% of the shares and Tony Parker, 3.0%.

"We have a common desire to grow together, to create synergies between us," said OL director general Thierry Sauvage.

© 2020 AFP