Marseille mayor Benoit Payan criticized Olympique de Marseille owner Frank McCourt for running the football club from a distance, lephoceen.fr reported.
Payan shared his assessment during an appearance on the YouTube show “Ils Font Marseille”. He questioned how an owner can effectively manage a major French football club while living in Boston and delegating daily operations.
“I think Frank McCourt is too far away,” Payan said, according to lephoceen.fr. “He is much too far from the life of the club. He lives in Boston, that is not his core business. He had fun buying this club, but he delegated too much.”
The mayor said that during McCourt’s decade in charge, he has met the American owner only three times. He argued that the unique pressures and passionate supporters of Olympique de Marseille require constant, hands-on leadership rather than remote oversight.
“It’s not just any club, you have to hold it,” Payan said, as reported by lephoceen.fr. “And it’s every day, you have to pay attention to everything. At each stratum, there are traps, difficulties, an exceptional public… but it’s not managed by making emails!”
Payan’s remarks echo previous criticisms voiced regarding club governance. Medhi Benatia shared a similar sentiment during an interview with Bertrand Latour on Canal+, recounting that he advised McCourt to be more present in Marseille.
Despite his critique of the governance model, the mayor did not call for McCourt to sell the club. His comments also dampen speculation regarding a potential takeover of Olympique de Marseille by shipping giant CMA CGM, led by Rodolphe Saadé.
Benoit Payan is the mayor of Marseille. He recently discussed his views on the administration of Olympique de Marseille during an interview on the YouTube program Ils Font Marseille.
Frank McCourt has owned the French football club for ten seasons. According to the mayor, the owner has visited in person only three times during that span.
Payan rejected remote management, stating that a high-profile club cannot be successfully run from Boston through emails and excessive delegation.
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