News APP

NewsApp (Free)

Read news as it happens
Download NewsApp

Available on  gplay

Home  » Sports » French court jails Olympique Marseille ex-coach

French court jails Olympique Marseille ex-coach

By Jean-Francois Rosnoblet
June 09, 2006 17:19 IST
Get Rediff News in your Inbox:
Former Olympique Marseille coach Rolland Courbis was sentenced to three and a half years in prison on Friday after being found guilty of involvement in a fraud scandal involving player transfers in the late 1990s.

Club owner Robert Louis-Dreyfus received a three-year suspended sentence, according to the verdicts read out in the court.

The men were also fined 375,000 euros ($480,800) each. Lawyers for both said they would appeal.

Prosecutors said some 22 million euros ($28.21 million) were illegally diverted from club funds as part of the transfer of 15 players between 1997 and 1999 -- including France 1998 World Cup winners Laurent Blanc and Christophe Dugarry.

"Fraud was one of the tools of the OM management between 1997 and 1999," judge Vincent Turbeaux told the court on Friday. "This created a disastrous image of professional football."

The ruling, coming only hours before the World Cup kicks off in Germany, was another reminder of the seamy side of the game. Italy is also in the throes of a match-fixing scandal.

During the trial, which began in March after a six-year investigation, the court heard of a complicated system of international cash transfers between several tax havens as part of a system of hidden commissions paid on player moves.

Also Read


Is Ronaldo fat? asks Brazil president

England hatch novel plan for penalties

Angola's Delgado steps into history

Crouch ready to lift England

Mixed reaction to Ronaldinho ads


There was some concern before the ruling that Louis-Dreyfus, who has put some 170 million euros into Olympique Marseille, might quit the club if he received a heavy sentence but his lawyer said he had no plans to leave.

"For the moment, it doesn't change anything for the love he has for his club and his desire to keep it going," Sophie Bottai told Reuters. "There will be no change, although in the end it will be his personal decision," she said.

Prosecutors had demanded a two-year jail term for Courbis and a suspended term of three to four years for Louis-Dreyfus who was not present in court on Friday.

During the trial, which began in March, Courbis admitted he was paid four million French francs ($100,000) in a Swiss bank account but he denied any wrongdoing.

On Friday he said there had been "an attempt to exterminate me in the world of football."

Louis-Dreyfus insisted that until the trial he knew nothing about widespread fraud at the club but he admitted that the court proceedings had revealed extensive wrongdoing which he said had deeply upset him.

Get Rediff News in your Inbox:
Jean-Francois Rosnoblet
Source: REUTERS
© Copyright 2024 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

India In Australia 2024-2025