John Textor claims two investors with dubious ties to Russian oligarchs bamboozled him into signing a complicated financing deal that was meant to take his soccer empire public, while the investors allege Textor is trying to dodge a nearly $94 million payment.

Textor sued James Dinan and Alexander Knaster, and their company Iconic Sports Eagle Investment LLC, in a Florida federal lawsuit filed July 4. Dinan is the founder of hedge fund York Capital Management and part-owner of the NBA’s Bucks, while Knaster owns investment firm Pamplona Capital Management. 

Textor’s suit claims he was defrauded by way of a complex financing arrangement tied to an ill-fated go-public deal for Eagle Football Holdings Limited—the holding company that owns his stakes in several soccer clubs, including Olympique Lyonnais in France and Daring Brussels in Belgium. According to Textor, the deal was destined to fail because Knaster—and another investor in Iconic—had “close financial ties with Russian individuals and assets that were the subject of international sanctions.”

However, his suit was filed after Iconic sued Textor in the U.K. on July 3, alleging that Textor has failed to pay up under a put option that was tied to a special purpose acquisition company (or SPAC) merger meant to take Eagle Football public at a $1.2 billion valuation. 

Under the put option—which could be triggered if the SPAC merger was not completed by a certain date—Iconic paid £1 for the right to compel Textor to buy back its $75 million stake in Eagle Football for that cost, plus 11% annual interest. As of today, the total cost when including interest is a little under $94 million, according to Iconic’s suit.

Textor says he agreed to the put option under those terms because he was convinced the deal was a sure thing, but later found out that the investors knew the transaction—which officially died in September 2023—was doomed from the start due to their undisclosed ties to sanctioned Russian oligarchs. Textor claims the defendants misrepresented their ability to obtain financing for the transaction because the Russian ties meant major banks would not work with them. 

According to Textor’s suit, Knaster’s London-based firm Pamplona received “significant funding prior to 2022” from individuals who had been hit with sanctions by the U.S., U.K., and European Union. Those individuals are Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven, German Khan, and Alexey Kuzmichev, all of whom are associated with Russia’s Alfa Bank, as well as investment firm LetterOne Holdings. The suit says Pamplona received funding from those people through LetterOne.

There are reports from the summer of 2022 about Knaster’s ties to those sanctioned Russians. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and Textor first went into business with Iconic Sports that November.

Had he known about the connections to sanctioned Russian individuals ahead of time, Textor “would not have sold the put option for such a low price or with such a high interest rate,” the complaint says.

Iconic’s suit—which is not public but was obtained by Front Office Sports—tells a different story; it says it has been trying to get Textor to pay the money he owes under the put option for years, to no avail. Iconic says it informed Textor in July 2023 that it was exercising the put option, but that he didn’t respond, and so it continued sending letters demanding that he honor the agreement. Eventually, Textor requested a meeting, which was held in July 2024. During that meeting, Textor “stated (amongst other things) that he had no ability or intention to pay the sums required under the Put Option Agreement,” Iconic’s suit claims.

A spokesperson for Iconic said in an emailed statement that Textor’s suit represents “an attempt to delay and frustrate ongoing legal proceedings and the recovery” of the debt obligation, and that “John Textor now appears to be resorting to fictional and easily disprovable claims against Iconic Sports and its directors.”

“Iconic Sports is simply seeking to enforce its contractual rights, a process initiated in 2023, and will continue to pursue its lawful claims in the appropriate venues,” the statement said.

Textor is still trying to take Eagle Football public; last month, the company made a confidential IPO filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The fate of Crystal Palace’s place in next season’s Europa League is up in the air after the French soccer regulator overturned a ruling relegating Olympique Lyonnais.

Both Crystal Palace of the U.K. and Olympique Lyonnais of France have qualified for the 2025–26 UEFA Europa League tournament; up until very recently, John Textor’s Eagle Football Holdings Limited owned majority stakes in both teams. Late last month, the French football financial regulator, the DNCG, initially ruled that Lyon would be relegated to France’s second division due to financial irregularities—a decision that appeared to solve the multi-club conflict by default.

But that ruling was overturned this week on appeal, putting both clubs back on a collision course with UEFA’s strict rules on multi-club ownership. (Under UEFA rules, teams with common shareholders cannot play in the same European competition in the same season.) 

Textor, under pressure to bring his soccer empire into compliance, has been taking action in recent weeks. Last month, he agreed to sell his 43% stake in Crystal Palace to Jets owner Woody Johnson, and later stepped down as Lyon’s CEO, handing control to Michele Kang, who owns the NWSL’s Washington Spirit. It is not clear whether those two moves will assuage UEFA, which was reportedly miffed that Textor missed a deadline to put his Lyon shares into a blind trust and did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. 

Lyon issued a statement Wednesday in response to the news of its successful appeal, saying it “is grateful that the Appeal Commission recognises the ambition of the Club’s new management to ensure a professionalised administration of its affairs going forward.”

“The new management, aided by the commitment and dedication of our shareholders and lenders, is extremely grateful for all the support it has received from inside and outside the Club, including from fans, staff, players, partners and elected officials,” Lyon said. “Today’s decision is the first step in restoring confidence in Olympique Lyonnais and we now return our focus to creating success on the pitch, ready for next season.”

Textor reportedly expressed confidence this week that Crystal Palace will be allowed to play in Europa League, while admitting he cannot “predict in advance” what UEFA will do.

Textor’s Eagle Football holds stakes in several soccer clubs, including Lyon in France, Daring Brussels in Belgium, and Botafogo in Brazil. It previously unsuccessfully sought to go public via a special purpose acquisition company (or SPAC) merger, and last month made a confidential filing to go public via IPO with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Representatives for Eagle Football and UEFA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Mark Walter may be buying the Lakers, but it’s still unclear how long Jeanie Buss will remain as team governor.

The press release announcing the record-breaking deal on June 25 said Buss would stay on as governor and oversee day-to-day team operations “for the foreseeable future,” a description that didn’t offer specificity. Two sources familiar with the matter tell Front Office Sports the agreement—which carries a jaw-dropping $10 billion valuation—will allow Buss to remain as team governor for “at least” five years. Sam Amick of The Athletic also reported that earlier Wednesday. Another source familiar with the matter, however, tells FOS that Buss will only be able to stay on for “at most” five years.

The previous owner staying on for a temporary time period is unusual but not unheard of. The deal that held the record for biggest pro sports franchise sale ever prior to the Lakers sale—the $6.1 billion sale of the Celtics—featured a similar wrinkle. There, Wyc Grousbeck is expected to stay on as CEO and governor through the 2027–28 season.

Before that, Mark Cuban intended to continue overseeing basketball operations for the Mavericks after he sold his majority stake at a $3.5 billion valuation in December 2023, but that didn’t end up working out: Cuban was just as shocked as the rest of the world when Luka Dončić was traded to the Lakers. 

Perhaps the goal is to establish continuity for the organization that allows for a phasing out of the old owner and phasing in of the new owner. Dave Checketts, a longtime sports executive who for many years ran the Knicks and Jazz, recently told FOS that continuity is key for pro sports franchises. 

“Players need to know who they play for and who makes the decisions,” he said. “There’s a level of trust that grows in the organization when there’s that continuity.”

Guaranteeing an outgoing owner significant power after they have sold their majority stake can be risky, though. In early 2020, a deal for Steve Cohen to buy the Mets collapsed, in part because of controversy over a provision that would have allowed the outgoing Wilpon family to remain in executive roles for five years after the completion of the sale (reports said the Wilpons wanted team control even beyond five years). Later in 2020, Cohen came back to the table and ultimately agreed to a $2.4 billion acquisition of the Mets; the deal saw the Wilpons exit, with Fred Wilpon maintaining only the honorary title of chairman emeritus.

A representative for Walter declined to comment, and representatives for the NBA and Lakers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.