While high-flying Marseille look to re-take first position in Ligue 1 with a win against rivals Nice on Friday; off the field the continuing storm surrounding suspected illegal diversions of transfer fees hangs over OM like the persistent rain pelting the region this week.
On Tuesday French police arrested a further ten people for questioning into the case, including most notably former Sporting Director, twice coach and defensive stalwart Jose Anigo. Anigo played over 200 times for les Marseillais during the 1970s, but his greatest achievement was guiding his first club to the final of the UEFA Cup in 2004, having beaten Liverpool FC and Inter Milan along the way.
The 53-year-old has been involved in a criminal case before, but from the other side, when his son Adrien was shot dead in September 2013 in a suspected gangland shooting.
Criminal undertones are once again the centre point of this investigation, and a police source said to AFP earlier that “Among those being detained are player agents and their representatives, but also people known to belong to the criminal underworld”.
The sources also confirmed that the figures declared for the deals (which include the marquee signing of André-Pierre Gignac from Toulouse in 2010 for a reported 18 million euros) are being investigated for their legitimacy as well as now focusing on the agents involved in the transfers.
The investigation is still underway and as the rain continues to pelt down on France’s southern capital, their favourite football team is still very much unsettled.
K.G.
