Although a few weeks ago it was announced that the French club would be sold to Canadian businessman Jack Kachkar, the management of Marseille changed its position and decided not to allow new owners.
"The current owner of the team, Robert Louis-Dreyfus, wanted financial guarantees for the club from the new owners. However, the Canadians could not provide such guarantees. Since we care about the future of the club, we did not want to take any risks. There is a very small chance that we will sell the club," said Marseille's executive director Pape Diouf.
J. Kachkar, a pharmaceutical businessman, reached a preliminary agreement with R. Louis-Dreyfus on March 1 for the takeover of the club for a sum of 115 million euros. The main consideration for J. Kachkar was the promise to keep the team's leaders Franck Ribery and Djibril Cisse on board.
Marseille is the most titled French club, having won the country's championship 8 times and the country's cup 10 times. This season, Marseille's footballers currently hold the 7th place in Ligue 1 and have reached the semi-finals of the French cup.