Football
Mourad Boudjellal and Mohamed Ayachi Ajroudi are eyeing the takeover of the Marseille club.
Former president of the Toulon rugby club, will Mourad Boudjellal be the future president of OM?
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Franco-Tunisian businessman Mohamed Ayachi Ajroudi, associated with the ex-manager of the Toulon Rugby Club Mourad Boudjellal to file a buyout offer for Olympique de Marseille, assured that they were in “discussions” on this “serious” offer.
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“We are in talks,” said the jack-of-all-trades, who said he runs companies in 23 countries and employs 30,000 people in an interview with the private radio station “Shems FM”.
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“I will not be the president of OM, it will be Mourad (note: Boudjellal), and I will perhaps be the administrative director, according to the agreements in preparation for a year”, he added.
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‹‹ It’s a serious offer ››
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He assured to have supported much the Tunisian sport, in particular the Gabesian Stadium, club of his native city, which evolves in the middle of table of first division.
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“Over the past eight years, I have paid 1.5 million dinars (532,000 francs) per year for the Stade Gabésien,” he said.
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“This is a serious offer,” he said, without wanting to comment on the figure of 700 million euros. “The objective is a great Mediterranean cultural project including in sport,” he added.
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No Gulf buyers
He denied being only an intermediary with buyers from the Gulf. “There are Tunisians who are decision-makers abroad, they are not slaves for the Qataris or the Saudis,” he said.
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Friday, the offer of 700 million euros, with Saudi funds, led by Boudjellal, stirred French football.
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Frank McCourt, the American owner of OM, has already invested more than 300 million euros in the club: 50 million on purchase, 78 million in debt recovery and around 220 million in transfers.
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The current president of OM Jacques-Henri Eyraud said on Saturday that the club “was not for sale.”
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(AFP)
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