French club Lyon have been demoted to Ligue 2 because of the poor state of their finances.
The club were provisionally demoted by the DNGC, the body which oversees the accounts of French professional football clubs, in November.
Lyon officials including owner John Textor, met with the DNGC on Tuesday but failed to convince the body that the club had sufficiently improved their financial situation to lift the punishment.
Last October, his Eagle Football Group, which owns a 77% stake in Lyon, announced debts of £422m.
