Pape Diouf: Marseille's Fearless Leader who Changed French Football Forever

Pape Diouf. (Getty Images)
Pape Diouf. (Getty Images)
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Pape Diouf: Marseille's Fearless Leader who Changed French Football Forever

Pape Diouf. (Getty Images)
Pape Diouf. (Getty Images)

It is difficult to write about the importance of one man at the time of untold tragedy. Paying particular attention to one person who has died after contracting coronavirus may seem arbitrary, almost cruel, or even myopic while tens of thousands are dying. Yet, the life of Pape Diouf is one that deserves recognition.

Born in Chad to Senegalese parents, Diouf moved to Marseille at the age of 18, ostensibly to become a soldier, but he was eager to forge his own path and make the most of the opportunities that could be found in France. To his parents’ chagrin, he started working in a post office, abandoning his studies for a position that was more immediately lucrative. His journey helped form his tough and even blunt approach. When he became a football agent, it made him not only an influential figure but one who was also infinitely relatable.

Diouf worked for years as a journalist in the south of France, covering Marseille for La Marseillaise, first as a freelancer and then as the paper’s lead reporter, before joining the ill-fated national daily Le Sport. After Le Sport went bankrupt, Diouf used his connections with Marseille players to begin work as an agent. He would go on to become a revolutionary figure in the world of sports, a true groundbreaker at a time when agents were not nearly as powerful as they are now.

Basile Boli and Joseph-Antoine Bell, both of whom played for Marseille at the time, were his first clients. The club were on the cusp of both their greatest success, winning the Champions League in 1993, and their greatest ignominy, when they were stripped of their league title that season, having bribed Valenciennes FC to throw a league match in the buildup to the final. Boli had been the hero of that European final win against Milan and his own story, having come from the Ivory Coast at a young age to find success in France, made Diouf seem like a father figure to the defender. “I can’t even speak,” said Boli when he heard that Diouf had died. “He’s not a friend – he was a big brother to me. All my children, my father and my mother knew him, loved him.”

With the success of his clients at Marseille – the title that was taken from them in 1993 would have been their third in a row – Diouf’s star quickly rose. Grégory Coupet, Marcel Desailly and Bernard Lama soon appointed him as their agent. Diouf’s intelligence and charisma helped him grow in standing among France’s power brokers. He understood that the game was becoming global and, with players such as Didier Drogba, Laurent Robert and Desailly impressing abroad, his reach extended, especially to England, where he and Arsène Wenger did much to bring French talent to a wider audience.

The Marseille owner Robert Louis-Dreyfus hired Diouf to work as the club’s sporting director in 2004, as much for his connections as his recruiting ability. When manager José Anigo resigned later that year, Diouf was appointed president, replacing the embattled Christophe Bouchet. With his own client, Drogba, having been sold to Chelsea in the summer of 2004, Marseille were always going to struggle for goals, but it was a particularly difficult time for the club. Lyon’s hegemony made Marseille’s underperformance especially galling. Despite their struggles, Diouf took things in his stride, even as the club cycled through three managers that season.

The next season, 2005-06, offered hope. The results were not much better – the club finished fifth for a second campaign running – but the arrivals of Franck Ribéry and Mamadou Niang, as well as the emergence of Samir Nasri (another of Diouf’s clients) augured well for the future. Diouf’s other signings during his tenure included Steve Mandanda and Hilton, showing his lasting influence on the game in France even today. But there were also missteps in the form of flair players such as Karim Ziani and Bakari Koné.

He also made headlines that season with the “Match of the Minots” at the Parc des Princes. Marseille and PSG have one of France’s most fiercely contested rivalries and on the occasion, Diouf, who was at odds with France’s governing body, the LFP, over security at the match and the number of places away fans would be afforded, sent a reserve side, who famously earned a scoreless draw. He did not endear himself to the powers that be in France in that episode, but he became a near-immediate legend at Marseille.

However, pressure continued to mount as the seasons passed without a trophy and the club chose to cut ties with Diouf in the summer of 2009, even though he had helped steer them to second place – just three points short of the title – that season. Despite his own lack of success, there is no denying that Diouf put the foundations in place for Marseille’s title the following year and their stirring run to the Champions League quarter-finals in 2012. He was later indicted (and acquitted) for improper dealings regarding player transfers, but there is no doubting the long shadow he cast over France’s most popular club.

Mathieu Valbuena, who won the league with Marseille in 2010, was impressed by Diouf’s immense aura. “He had an incredible presence,” said Valbuena. “He had broad shoulders. For me, he is the best president in Marseille’s recent history. When he left in 2009, he left the club in a very good state. He was close to the players, the employees. He knew how to get his messages across, to be sharp.”

After leaving Marseille, Diouf worked at a journalism college in Marseille and stood for an election in the city as well. His massive personality and outspoken approach did him no favors in either of these endeavors as he continued to show the world that, even away from football, he could be as brazen as the young man who had dared to disobey his parents’ wishes for him to be a soldier.

Again, his death is one of many in the world at the moment, but for a man for whom race, class, or social standing were no obstacle, and for whom no opponent seemed too big, it is only fitting that we note the passing of Pape Diouf by honoring him for what he was: a principled, fearless and forthright individual whose ambitions and influence on the game knew no limit.

The Guardian Sport



Khalid bin Sultan Al-Faisal: Team Ownership Could Be Next F1 Step for Saudi Arabia 

Formula One F1 - Bahrain Grand Prix - Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain - April 13, 2025 Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal, president of Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation is pictured on the grid before the Bahrain Grand Prix. (Reuters)
Formula One F1 - Bahrain Grand Prix - Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain - April 13, 2025 Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal, president of Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation is pictured on the grid before the Bahrain Grand Prix. (Reuters)
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Khalid bin Sultan Al-Faisal: Team Ownership Could Be Next F1 Step for Saudi Arabia 

Formula One F1 - Bahrain Grand Prix - Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain - April 13, 2025 Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal, president of Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation is pictured on the grid before the Bahrain Grand Prix. (Reuters)
Formula One F1 - Bahrain Grand Prix - Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain - April 13, 2025 Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal, president of Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation is pictured on the grid before the Bahrain Grand Prix. (Reuters)

Owning a Formula One team could be the next step for Saudi Arabia after sponsoring the sport and hosting a grand prix, according to the president of Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation.

Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal told reporters in a video call ahead of this weekend's race in Jeddah that the interest was there.

"It could happen, it could happen soon if you see the growth (of the sport)," he said.

"If you are going to buy a Formula One team then people will buy it to make money out of it, especially if it's going to be bought by one of the PIF (Saudi Public Investment Fund) companies.

"We see Formula One is reaching new markets, sales are globally increasing ...

"It's not easy to say which team to buy and how you're going to manage it. But we have a lot of interest ... we're hosting Formula One, sponsoring teams. So I wouldn't be surprised if we see an announcement for a Saudi team."

Saudi Arabia first hosted Formula One in 2021, while energy giant Aramco is a global partner of the sport and also title sponsor of the Aston Martin team.

The PIF invested in McLaren in 2021 and already has a 20.5% stake in luxury carmaker Aston Martin, which is separate from the team controlled by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll.

Aston Martin, the carmaker, said last month it would raise more than 125 million pounds ($163.5 million) from Stroll, who is also its chairman, and the sale of its stake in the F1 team.

Investment bank Raine Group has been commissioned by Stroll to help find a buyer for that holding.

There is also lingering speculation about the future of the Renault-owned Alpine team, despite the French carmaker's insistence that a sale is not on the agenda.

'WHY NOT?'

Other Middle Eastern countries who host races have ties to Formula One, with the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) holding a significant minority stake in the Audi team due to debut next year.

Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat is major shareholder in champions McLaren, with Abu Dhabi's CYVN Holdings recently acquiring McLaren Automotive.

Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in sports over the last few years with the aim to become a global sports hub.

Formula One is enjoying a surge of support in the Middle East with younger female fans the fastest growing demographic globally, according to Nielsen Sports. The region has four of the 24 races.

Formula One teams have soared in value of late, with new audiences attracted by the Netflix docu-series "Drive to Survive".

Alpine, sixth overall last year with Aston Martin fifth, were valued at around $900 million in 2023 after an investor group took a 24% stake for $200 million.

With General Motors-backed Cadillac coming in next year as an 11th team, there remains a space for one more.

"Personally, I would like to see a Saudi team," said Prince Khalid.

"But if Saudi Arabia or one of the Saudi companies will be involved in one of the teams, I would like them to do it the right way and be successful. It's a tricky question, but why not?"