Frank McCourt officially announced this Friday the appointment of Stéphane Richard as the president of Olympique de Marseille. Before taking up his position at the beginning of July, the new leader of the club shared ambitious sporting goals for Marseille.
Pablo Longoria leaving from River Plate and Medhi Benatia on the way out, Frank McCourt officially announced this Friday the arrival of a new strong man at the head of OM. Former CEO of Orange and former advisor to several Finance ministers, Stéphane Richard is the new president of the Marseille club. Even before his effective takeover at the beginning of July, the director has set the course.
“My priority is to bring a period of stability, a medium and long-term vision that will try to reconcile a little bit of everyone,” immediately stated Stéphane Richard during his first speech in front of the press. “Internally, there are these economic constraints, I have no difficulty integrating them. I will try to be a one-man band who will try to make the right recruitment decisions and hopefully provide an energy boost for qualification for the Champions League by then.”
“Establishing OM in the small group of European-level clubs”
Provisionally fourth in Ligue 1 before hosting Metz this Friday in the 29th round of the season, OM still hopes to snatch a place on the podium and a direct qualification for the next Champions League. Once the final sprint is over, the Marseille club will focus on the 2026-2027 season for which Stéphane Richard remains just as demanding and ambitious in terms of sport.
“The ambition is clear, it is reaffirmed and it is really to establish OM in the small group of European-level clubs that have the vocation to play in the Champions League every year. So to be in the top 3 of the championship, in Ligue 1,” continued the new Marseille president. “That has always been the ambition and it is reaffirmed. After that, let’s not judge what will happen. The summer period is crucial and it is much too early to talk about it.”
“Football is not just a question of money, otherwise it would be known”
In a period when French football is struggling economically, as Frank McCourt pointed out before the appointment of Stéphane Richard, the arrival of the former head of Orange should ensure a stable and financially viable future for OM. And even if Marseille does not have huge sums to recruit and build a team aiming for the title in Ligue 1, money should not be the basis of the sporting project according to the new club president.
“I don’t think it’s just a question of means. I’m not going to make a sports comment, but we see many clubs, including in Europe, that have put in colossal means and have ultimately had disappointing results,” emphasized Stéphane Richard during his first public intervention at OM. “At Liverpool, they exceeded 480 million euros last year and all that to find themselves today, I will not say in a situation of failure because we should not exaggerate, but there is a lot of disappointment.”
Before concluding: “Football is not just a question of money, otherwise it would be known. It’s not just a question of means. Being smart, yes of course. It’s about reconstructing a team from the resources we have today and others that will be identified in order to build a functional team. And that’s the goal.”
