The Stade Vélodrome will have to wait to receive the Niçois.

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NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP

  • Benoît Payan, the mayor of Marseille wants to sell the Velodrome to OM, "a financial mismanagement" for the city.

  • But the sale of the stadium was not discussed during the meeting between the councilor and Frank McCourt on Monday.

    The mayor asked him "to calm the situation".

  • Benoît Payan has always denounced as insufficient the rent of five million euros per year paid by OM to the city to play at the Vélodrome.

The Vélodrome will be for next time.

The question of the sale of the Stade Vélodrome to the Olympique de Marseille was not discussed during the meeting between the mayor and the American owner of the club, it would have been "too premature", explained the city Thursday.

"There will be no sale as long as the club's situation is not stabilized," insisted the municipality, commenting on the meeting between the mayor, Benoît Payan, and Frank McCourt on Monday.

"The ambition of the mayor of Marseille Benoît Payan remains to sell the stadium to the club", however confirmed the city: "But let things calm down and wait to see the ambitions of Mr. McCourt".

"Mr. McCourt said he would come back soon, the subject can then be addressed concretely," said the town hall.

The town hall had already specified that Monday's exchange between Benoît Payan and Franck McCourt and Longoria, at the town hall, had been "cordial and constructive".

The mayor of Marseille had "again asked Mr. McCourt to calm the situation" born in particular of the very bad relations between Jacques-Henri Eyraud and the supporters, against a backdrop of sluggish results.

"A financial mismanagement"

On February 4, during an exchange on Facebook with Internet users, Benoît Payan recalled his intention to sell the Vélodrome, "a financial mismanagement": "Niet, finished, 15 million euros from the pocket of Marseillaises and Marseillais for 30 years, finished, ”he said.

He was referring to the public-private partnership between the city and Arema, a subsidiary of the Bouygues construction group, since 2015 and until 2045, following renovation work on the stadium for Euro-2016.

Our dossier on OM

Likewise, Benoît Payan has always denounced as insufficient the rent of five million euros per year paid by OM to the city to be able to play at the Vélodrome.

According to a report from the Regional Chamber of Accounts of November 2020, this rent should be eight million euros per year.

"But this question of rent is difficult to tackle in the current context" of football, with empty stadiums due to the Covid-19 crisis, we recognized Thursday at the town hall, on the side of the new municipality of left.

LR mayor of the city for 25 years, Jean-Claude Gaudin had always refused "to be the mayor of Marseille who will sell the Vélodrome".

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  • Frank McCourt

  • Marseilles

  • Benoît Payan

  • Velodrome stadium

  • OM

  • Soccer

  • Sport

  • League 1