2009-07-05 15:29:02 -
MARSEILLE, France (AP) - Marseille coach Didier Deschamps led the tributes Sunday to Robert Louis-Dreyfus, Marseille's longtime owner who died Saturday of leukemia at the age of 63.
«Marseille in mourning,» was the somber message posted on the front page of the French club's Web site, and former club captain Deschamps praised the billionaire businessman who took over the club more than a decade ago.
«He was genuinely passionate about sport and football in particular. He loved sportsmen and considered them as heroes,» Deschamps said Sunday. «Despite his position in the business world, he was very humble and accessible which is rare enough in (football) to be underlined.
As a mark of respect, Marseille's training session Sunday in Evian was to be held behind closed doors.
Louis-Dreyfus invested about ¤220 million ($307 million) into Marseille _ but he could not deliver the club its first trophy since the Champions League in 1993 as a succession of managers came and went.
«The best homage Marseille's staff and players can pay to him is to have the best season possible,» added Deschamps, who took over as coach from Eric Gerets.
Marseille finished second last year, three points behind Bordeaux.
When Louis-Dreyfus, formerly a director of sportswear labels such as Adidas and Salomon, took over in 1996 the club was reeling from a match-fixing scandal that shook French football. It had been stripped of its 1992-93 league title and demoted to the second division. The club kept its European Cup crown, however.
«It's thanks to Robert Louis-Dreyfus that the club is back among the contenders today,» Marseille's president Jean-Claude Dassier said.
After Gerets left, Louis-Dreyfus sacked president Pape Diouf in acrimonious circumstances, replacing him with Dassier.
Diouf was sacked after five years at the helm because of irreconcilable personality clashes with other club officials. Louis-Dreyfus reportedly made the decision to fire him from his hospital bed, and was said to be in tears afterward.
Although Diouf had helped Marseille become stable financially, Louis-Dreyfus said that «differences prevent us from continuing the adventure.
That move stunned Deschamps _ recruited by Diouf _ and angered Marseille fans, who were united behind Diouf.
«It causes me a lot of pain to know that there were disagreements between certain supporters and him,» Dassier said. «I hope that, this morning, everybody will forget these unfortunate recent episodes.
Marseille's mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin also praised Louis-Dreyfus, saying «his commitment was unfailing.
Meanwhile, Bordeaux president Jean-Louis Triaud called Louis-Dreyfus someone «who gave a lot and got little back (in return)» and that «I don't know if his efforts were always rewarded or recognized.
Louis-Dreyfus' reign at Marseille, however, was also controversial, and in 2006 he went on trial in an embezzlement case.
Former coach Rolland Courbis and Louis-Dreyfus were among 10 people charged with embezzling ¤22 million ($31 million) in club funds through alleged hidden bonuses in the transfer of 15 players between 1997-99.
Louis-Dreyfus was given a 10-month suspended prison sentence, and he and Courbis were fined ¤200,000 ($284,000) each.
