Stéphane Richard officially appointed Olympique de Marseille president | OneFootball

Franck McCourt confirmed at a Friday morning press conference that Stéphane Richard has been appointed president of Olympique de Marseille after several weeks of uncertainty.

Richard will take office in July, succeeding Alban Juster, who has served since 28 February following the demotion of former president Pablo Longoria, who left in March. According to L'Équipe, Richard will retain his MTN non-executive directorship after 2 July.

The 64-year-old is steeped in senior business roles, less in football, though he says he is passionate about the sport. A graduate of HEC and ENA, he has worked across the public and private sectors. He became Orange chief executive in 2011 during a crisis over employee suicides, and the company carried Ligue 1 from 2008 until June 2012, giving him valuable broadcast-rights expertise.

Born in Gironde, he took his baccalaureate in Marseille and has kept strong ties to the city, where he owns a home. On 31 March he was appointed an independent non-executive director at MTN, the pan-African telecoms leader and a rival to Orange in Africa. He is currently a partner at a Paris mergers and acquisitions advisory bank, a role he said he will leave on 30 June.

He will no doubt follow closely OM’s first match since his nomination on Friday night against Metz, the league’s bottom club. Marseille are fourth in Ligue 1 and need a win to keep alive their push for Champions League qualification. The stakes are significant for the club’s finances as a new era begins.

Source: L'Équipe