How Marseille became the champion of Europe and a force in France: A story that did not have a happy ending

Bernard Tapi was sitting in his home in Paris in 1986 when he received an unusual offer. The mayor of Marseille, Gaston Defer called the businessman and suggested that he take over the club from the Cote d'Azur. Tapi, a man ready for many challenges, convinced to turn everything he touches into gold, did not think much. He packed his bags and went to Provence.

Arriving in Marseille, he became one of the most powerful figures, not only in French football. He is the creator of the mighty Olympique, a team that won the French League 1 five times in a row, and in 1993, the Champions League. Marseille was at its peak at the end of the eighties and the beginning of the nineties, but the fall that followed - due to numerous malfeasance and rigging in which Tapi was at the center - was very painful.

Eager for fame and success, the rich boss poured millions into the club. The first title after 17 years in the domestic championship, won in 1989, chased away the gray clouds from the Velodrome. But something was bothering Tapia. He could not easily overcome elimination from the European Champions Cup. Benfica was better than the French, and the Portuguese player, Vata, scored the decisive goal with his hand. Tapi was furious.

- I learn fast. This will not happen to us again - he promised after the match.

The following season, Marseille reached the KEŠ final, but at the "San Nikola" stadium in Bari, after 120 minutes of goalless play, Crvena zvezda celebrated with a lot of luck - with a better penalty kick. A year later, Marseille was eliminated by Sparta Prague. At the same time, dominance was established in French football. And then came the 1992/1993 season, even though in the summer of 1992, the great goalscorer Jean-Pierre Papin went to Milan, Chris Waddle returned to England (Sheffield Wednesday), Dragan Stojković Pixi joined Verona (loan)...

After the preliminary eliminations of Glentoran and Dinamo Bucharest, the team played in the Champions League in the final group with CSKA, Club Brugge and Rangers. For the first place, which led to the final, Marseille fought with the Scots. The trip to Munich was decided by the last round - with Alen Bokšić's goal, the French champion was better than Bruges by a minimal score, while Rangers drew with CSKA. The Scots still say today that the match in Belgium is doubtful, alluding to the fact that the Bruges players did not try to change the result after conceding a goal. Accusations also came from Moscow - the Russians claimed that, during their visit to France, something was poured into their drinks and that they lost 6:0 as a result.

Marseille played Capello's Milan in the Champions League final. However, before another European final, it was necessary to secure the title in France. The team was the leader. Monaco and PSG were breathing down their necks and for the new title it was necessary to overcome Valencia. The match was played five days before the final with the Rossoneri - Olympique won 1:0 and secured a new title. That victory would turn out to spell the end of Tapie's Marseille.

After defending the title, all attention was focused on Munich and the final with the powerful Italian team. Tasoti, Costakurta, Maldini, Albetini, Barezi, Rijkaard, Van Basten... the role of the favorite was on the side of Milan, which did not include Dejan Savićević. Capello did not include him in the team. A year later, with that goal against Barcelona, ​​Savićević forced Capel to bite his lip every time he mentioned the match with the French and admit that he made a mistake that night in Munich.

The match at the "Olympic Stadium" was decided at the end of the first part. Abedi Pele took the corner, Basile Boli jumped and beat Rossi. There was no change in the results until the end - Olympique was the first French club to win the Champions League title. Bartez, Boli, Desai, Bokšić, Feller, Pele and Dešan brought the European title to the Cote d'Azur. Bernard Tapi enjoyed his fame, not knowing that he would soon end up in a web of malfeasance, subterfuge, rigging, scandal... The web he had woven himself.

How Tapi fell: It all started on a yacht

Two weeks after the biggest triumph, winning the title of European champion, the biggest scandal in French football followed. Valencia player Jacques Glasman admitted that he was offered money to concede in the match against Olimpico. He refused, but his teammate relented - Christophe Robert accepted the bribe, and showed the investigators the place where he left the envelope with the money. Another Valencian player - Jorge Buručaga - was involved in the story.

The investigation reached Marseille footballer Jean-Jacques Edeli. He admitted that he took the money from Tapio and gave it to Robert. The agreement on the complete action was reached on Tapi's yacht.

Bernard Tapi, a minister in Mitterrand's government, was sentenced to eight months for match-fixing and another 18 months for embezzlement with the club's account. He was released on parole after half a year.

Jean-Jacques Edeli was found guilty of bribing Valenciennes players. He spent 17 days in prison. He was sentenced to a one-year prison sentence. And Fifa banned him from playing football for 12 months. Edeli later went a step further and said that the Marseille players had doped before the final with Milan.

The general manager of the club, Jean-Pierre Bernes, was also given a two-year suspended sentence. He was banned from football by the French federation for life, but that ban was lifted by Fifa.

Both Rober and Buručaga received suspended sentences, while Glasman was awarded the FIFA fair play award in 1995.

Marseille was automatically kicked out of Europe, the title in the domestic championship was taken away from him, and after the end of the trial, he was kicked out of the French league. The recovery of the club took years, and the first title since the outbreak of the scandal was won by the team from the Cote d'Azur only in 2010.