It was the rarest of rare occasions as Marseille owner Frank McCourt organised a last minute press conference at the Stade Vélodrome the same day that Les Olympiens face Ligue 1’s bottom side FC Metz this evening. Habib Beye’s men need to win against Les Grenats if they are to make good on their ambition of qualifying for Champions League football next season. But for a moment, it faded into the background. All of Marseille’s remaining hierarchy were present in the Vélodrome’s press room, including the club’s outbound sporting director Medhi Benatia, interim president Alban Juster, and Frank McCourt’s closest allies in Jeff Ingram and Shéhérazade Semsar-de Boisséson – who’s involvement in OM’s management structure has increased since the turn of the year.McCourt would be revealing the man that will be Marseille’s next president, officially following Pablo Longoria’s five-year tenure which ended after the club’s crisis triggered by the departure of Roberto De Zerbi and, originally, Medhi Benatia. That man is Stéphane Richard, a heavyweight of sorts in the French corporate world and the man that brought Orange back from the brink as CEO.“Marseille needs a strong leader,” McCourt declared at the press conference attended by Get French Football News, outlining a profile that leans heavily toward executive authority rather than football expertise. Richard’s profile is one that is intended to steady the ship among what is expected to be a turbulant time for French football. “I am not a technician of football,” Richard admitted candidly. “But I will involve myself in all aspects of the club.”“The club is at a crossroads,” the 64 year-old added on the urgency of the club’s current predicament. 2026 has been turbulent, to say the least, for Marseille. Early elimination from the Champions League group stage, a Coupe de France exit, and inconsistent league form have left Marseille battling to secure a return to Europe’s top competition. Off the pitch, tensions have simmered among supporters, exacerbated by controversial decisions such as the unveiling of a new club logo.Repairing that fractured relationship will be one of Richard’s immediate priorities. “The supporters are an essential part of the club,” he stressed. “There is frustration, even a form of disengagement. My goal is to rebuild that connection and bring people back together.”This emphasis on dialogue and reconciliation signals a shift in tone. Where recent years have often been marked by volatility, ambition, firing up the hopes of supporters, Richard has positioned himself as an institutional figure of mediation. “We operate in a complicated environment,” he noted, referencing the disparity between French broadcasting revenues and those of Europe’s other major leagues.There is a broader reading of this appointment. Richard represents a step up from Pablo Longoria’s corporate governance. The Spaniard was highly competent on the sporting side but increasingly exposed at an institutional and political level. This move may also serve a longer-term objective for Frank McCourt. Installing a figure of Richard’s stature, capable of restoring credibility and order, could be seen as an effort to make the club more structurally “presentable” to external investors. In that sense, beyond stabilising the present, the nomination subtly raises the prospect of Marseille being shaped into a more attractive asset – whether for minority investment or eventually something more significant.Frank McCourt still open to minority investment
Marseille’s recent losses and the wider Ligue 1 broadcasting crisis form the backdrop to Richard’s appointment. His experience in telecommunications and, crucially, in sports media through Orange’s previous involvement in football rights positions him as someone capable of navigating that landscape. McCourt has already indicated openness to bringing in a “strategic partner,” but was coy on any progress made in that department “What’s important is not what’s best for me, but what’s best for OM,” Frank McCourt added.“I wasn’t sure I would be putting in that amount of investment ten years ago,” but he added, “Me and my family would like own Marseille for a long, long time.”A defining few months lie ahead for Marseille. Richard’s official start date may be set for the 2nd July, but the reality is that the pressure begins now. Marseille’s pursuit of Champions League qualification will shape the financial and sporting parameters he inherits, while the broader instability of French football ensures there will be little margin for error.GFFN | George Boxall – Reporting from Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
