Jean-Michel Aulas steps down from the Lyon city council following a complaint against a former campaign advisor

The crisis surrounding Jean-Michel Aulas is worsening. The former president of Olympique Lyonnais announced his withdrawal from the governance of the Cœur Lyonnais group at the Lyon city council, two days after revelations concerning a complaint of rape by chemical submission filed against a former official of his municipal campaign.

In a statement, the opposition group indicated that Jean-Michel Aulas and his vice-president, Laure Cédat, had offered to step aside in order to preserve the unity of the group. This decision comes as several right-wing and centrist elected officials have expressed their unease with the situation and its handling.

Departures within his political group

The meeting held on Friday highlighted deep divisions within the Cœur Lyonnais group. Several elected officials, including Pierre Oliver, the LR mayor of the 2nd arrondissement, announced their departure from the group. Other city councilors, including Emmanuel Hamelin, Samuel Soulier, and Nina Bouffet, also distanced themselves from the group.

Just the day before, Jean-Michel Aulas had refused to step down from his duties at the Lyon Metropolitan Area. Faced with increasing pressure from several elected officials of the metropolitan majority and leaders of the Lyon right wing, the president of the Metropolitan Area, Véronique Sarselli, finally decided to temporarily withdraw his delegated powers, as well as those of Laure Cédat and Emmanuel Imberton.

A complaint at the heart of the crisis

The case originated with a complaint filed in May by a young activist involved in Jean-Michel Aulas's mayoral campaign. She accuses the campaign's former communications director of raping her after an alleged drug-facilitated sexual assault. The accused denies the allegations against him.

No legal action has been taken against Jean-Michel Aulas himself at this stage. But the revelations have sent shockwaves through Lyon's political landscape, weakening the main opposition figure to Lyon's Green mayor, Grégory Doucet.