Conference trucks::football;1

    The latest on the OM front is that the Clubs Finance executive is in
    Hospital sufferung from severe depression, but was still questioned
    by police yesterday....probably didn't help his condition!
    
    CSK Moscow now have accused 'Someone' connected with OM of having tried
    to bribe them to lose their European games, plus they suspect them of
    doping their food at the away game at OM....
    
    
    ...what next?
    
    -Dom

    Would anybody care to give some details regarding all the allegations
    of bribery surrounding Marseille?
    VNS this morning reports that Berlusconi is talking about staging the
    European Cup final with Rangers ? Is this serious ? Sounds like AC
    Milan could not blame is this time on the failure to the stadium
    lights...
    France had not won a European Cup Final ever and we are going to get
    stripped?????
    
    Jacques

    
    About CSKA Moskow:
       The allegations of the Moskow trainer reported in -1 have been 
       denied by the Moskow president. 
       A UEFA guy who lived with the CSKA team several days before and
       until the match did not notice anything suspect in the players
       condition. Nevertheless, UEFA has requested CSKA to give more 
       explanations if not proofs.
    
    About Berlusconi: yes, he asked to replay the match against
    the...Rangers !
    Nobody can consider this as serious as the Marseilles problems right
    now have nothing to do with the Eur. cup, but exclusively deals with 
    the French league.
    
    There have been a Police "perquisition" in the Marseilles offices
    yesterday which did not produced anything relevant.  
    Burruchaga returned today from Argentina and is also expected for 
    explainations...
    
    The soap opera continues
    
    PYV

    Tapi has been quoted as saying that tha money given to one of the
    Valenciane players was a loan to help him open a resteraunt!
    
    Not good a move I suspect, especially as the player now says he
    intended on giving the money back, makes you wonder why he buried
    it in the garden!
    
    -Dom

    Quote from the public prosecutor: "Maybe he thought it would help
    growing plants".
    
    �JF?

    Not much solid info in this file, compared to the daily dose in the
    Swiss (and presumably French) press.
    
    The raid in the Marseilles offices is alleged to have found (a)
    unusual stationery similar to that found with the FF 250 K cash buried
    in the Valenciennes player's garden, and (b) notes with similar serial
    numbers.
    
    A senior French FA official says that the 2 Valenciennes players most
    involved are unlikely to ever play again in France.
    
    The ref of the match in question says he was surprised at the lack of
    combativeness of the Valenciennes players, and that some Val. officials
    had told him at half-time that the players had been nobbled.
    
    All in all, plenty of smoke, so there may well be some fire.
    
    Beats me why Marseille would need to do this, as they would probably
    have won anyway.
    
    All above is from memory, so apologies for any imprecisions.
    ds.
        

	The judge dealing with the case was interviweing Bernard TAPIE
	(2 days ago) on the basis of an accusation by Boro PRIMORAC
	(former Valencienne trainer) to have been offered money (amount
	unknown) to show up as the one culprit for the whole affair...
	Bernard TAPIE says that his agenda will prove that he was not
	possibly meeting with Boro on said day at said place...
	
	The story gets better and better, this is far better than any
	suspense in DALLAS (or equivalent). Everyday you hear new
	pieces of funny allegations, and yet it's very difficult to
	know where the TRUTH is...
	
	About the referee "revelations", it looks like he wakes up
	very late... Whatever he says today, everyone could have said
	already, seeing what had been said by the press previously.
	Just after the game, no question whatsoever was ever raised for
	seemingless passivity of the Valencienne team by either the
	ref, or the coach(es), or the players, or the press...

	Somewhat pi**ed off by the whole lot,			.Andre.

    	
    	Strange that suddenly so many people notice "something" during
    this match. 
    But, let's serious: if you drive a survey on any championship to 
    identify in which matches there have been teams playing passively, you
    will find plenty of them. 
    Idem about what the referree also said about the injury of Robert: he
    says that the action should not have produced such an injury...
    
    Anyway, all these are impressions, speculations, etc...
    The only obvious corruption fact is this buried money..given by whom ?
    
    Nevertheless, the League has said that if the Justice proves the
    corruption, the people will be sanctioned, but the Marseille
    institution will be protected.
    
    PYV 
    

    Tapie was on the tele last night saying how people were out to get
    him etc etc. You cant help feeling he's right to be paranoid.
    
    Personaly I wouldn't trust him further than I could throw him...
    
    The saga continues....
    
    -Dom

Tapie is using the well-known tactics of trying to get public support ("they're
all after me, I'm the victim") and thus lifting the steam off the culprits.

We'll see if it works out well for him.

There are people who are after his blood for sure, in Paris and in Marseille
(don't forget Tapie's ambition is to become the next mayor of Marseille to
launch a national campaign).

�JF?

    Rumour has it that you can check to see what NEXT seasons results
    are for Marseille on Minitel? ;-)
    
    Meanwhile its over to the wives of the players concerened to spill the
    beans....
    
    -Dom
    

And not just in France . . .  Legia Warsaw have been stripped of the Polish 
title after allegations of bribery. That would have given the title to Lodz, 
but they've had points deducted for similar misdeeds. This appears to leave 
Lech Poznan, who finished third, as the Polish champions.

Wonder if the English FA will ever acquire the guts to really investigate what 
goes on in our top clubs?

g

    The OM scandal moves now into political farce, with Mitterand giving
    open support to Tapie and being critical of the magistrate in charge
    of the case.
    
    -Dom

    re -1
    Now we kow he's guilty, the goverment is supporting him >!*
    
    The question is if [and I know it's still only if] Marseille were
    prepared to bribe their way through a meaningless league match, what on
    earth must they have been prepared to do in the Euro Cup ?

    
    Heard this week-end on the radio that the FIFA would withdraw Marseille
    from the European cup if they are guilty on the nationnal level.
    
    Doesn't look to good for Marseille.

    Have any sanctions been made public in the Marseille - Valenciennes
    case ?
    
    Jacques

    But don't expect anything radical. UEFA, FIFA and the English FA
    are all dynamically useless organisations. 
    
    barry. 

	UEFA has banned OM from European Champions League for
	"Suspicion of Corruption", based on the fact that if they
	tried to buy a game, they must sure have done the same (or
	even worse) for the past few seasons.
	
	They also excluded Riga because they came in too late for their
	preliminary game against a team in the Faroes Islands (because
	of fog and poor weather condition during their flight, they
	could not be at the stadium at the expected time...) 

	Call me biased, but I find the reasonning of those people
	somewhat "funny"...
	
							.Andre.

    
    From what I heard (in France via English radio!) the reason that OM
    have been banned this season is because the French officialdom couldn't
    get their fingers out and make a decision.  FIFA are also considering
    taking action against the French association for the same reason!
    
    Ian

    
    Right, but the French Association and the League could not take any
    decision before a Justice decision. This clause is included in their 
    "constitition" and they would break the law by doing this.
    
    Therefore, it seems to me that the UEFA decision is a bit prematurate,
    as there is at the moment no proof that Marseille's managers are 
    involved. 
    
    Nevertheless, Marseille is claiming that the losses will be at least 
    100 Millions of francs (10 M Pounds) and that they will not be able to
    pay the players without this money...
    
    PYV 
    

 FIFA claimed that the French football authorities do not have the courage
 to deal appropriately with the Marseilles/Valenciennes problem.

 I think FIFA is simply fed up with the corruption in French football turning 
 up year after year. One representative of the Strasbourg club side said this 
 was a good lesson for French football. 

 I understand that Paris St. Germain have declined to replace Marseilles in the 
 Champions cup. There is talk of Nantes or Monaco taking the place, and if they 
 don't want it it may go as far as offering the place to Auxerre. (so it may all 
 turn out quite well for you Andre - yes, we know you are an Auxerre man).

 Meanwhile, the latest news is that Bernard Tapie is instructing his lawyers
 to mount a campaign of appeal. 

 Another possibility is that this episode is not the end of the catastrophe 
 for Marseilles, there being talk of further punishment such as relegation
 to the second division.  

 Gordon.

> I think FIFA is simply fed up with the corruption in French football turning 
> up year after year.
	Gordon, would you care to be more explicit?

> (so it may all turn out quite well for you Andre - yes, we know you are
> an Auxerre man).
	You have to learn something new everyday, you made my day!!!

> Another possibility is that this episode is not the end of the catastrophe 
> for Marseilles, there being talk of further punishment such as relegation
> to the second division.
	Where did you get this "info/intox" from? I have not heard
	that on France Info yet (not that France Info would be the
	most reputable information source, but if they did not say
	it...)

								.Andre.

    Andre
    
    I agree with Gordon - you always were a closet Auxerre man...
    
    As for OM being banned, it strikes me it just saves them from the
    embarrassment of being taken to the cleaners by the aristocrats of
    European football from Old Trafford.
    
    Gordon, I'd like to know what the other corruption in French football
    is as well.
    
    Jamie

	Jamie,
	
	Now that you "lost" your "kangooroo skin" football shoes,
	Now that you left south of "Universe" to get back to where you belong,
	
	Just take the jump and go (for once) watching Big Eric...
	
	And please, stop dreaming, get back to (non virtual) reality...
	
								.Andre.

    Eydelie, the Marseille player now on a club-hunting trip in Argentina
    apparently told "le juge d'instruction" that bribery was rife in the
    French (and other) leagues in Europe. 
    
    However, I've not heard about any other corruption stories in France
    since I moved here in '84.
    
    John

    Eydelie looking for a club in Argentina ?
    
    Is Burruchaga helping him to land a job? He could be either a good 
    midfielder or a bookie with a very good inside track ....;-]
    
    Jacques