Stéphane Richard, former CEO of the telecommunications group Orange, is the new president of Olympique de Marseille, the legendary club opting in the midst of a chaotic season for a more classic business executive profile.

"All the boxes that mattered to me, Stéphane ticked them, it was a fairly easy decision for me," announced Frank McCourt, the American businessman who bought the Marseille club in 2016, at a press conference alongside Mr. Richard on Friday.

Aged 64 and president of Orange from 2011 to 2022, also chief of staff to Jean-Louis Borloo and then Christine Lagarde at the Ministry of Economy, Stéphane Richard will replace the Spaniard Pablo Longoria, ousted from the presidency of the club in February after five years in charge.

He will take up his duties on July 2, he told the press, after a transition period in which he will be involved.

After Jacques-Henri Eyraud and Longoria, Stéphane Richard becomes the third president of the McCourt era. Since Pablo Longoria's departure, Alban Juster had been serving as interim president of OM.

After Longoria, a football man and transfer market enthusiast who had to "learn" the job of president, OM has found in Stéphane Richard a more classic business executive profile with a very extensive CV.

"I am not a football technician but of course I intend to get involved in all areas of the club's life, including sporting," the new president assured.

"The whole city thinks and breathes for OM. I am fully aware of the institution that this club represents," Mr. Richard emphasized, recalling that he had completed his secondary education in Marseille and remained attached to the city, where he owns a residence.

He also emphasized that, as president of the operator, he had "put the Orange name on this magnificent stadium, the Vélodrome".

Frank McCourt, who was also looking for "a leader from a business and corporate perspective," is counting on him to ensure "that OM is profitable and sustainable."

"OM needs this leadership to bring stability, calm, and sustainability back to the club," added the club owner.

- "At the crossroads" -

"I'm a football fan, I've loved this sport since I was very young," Stéphane Richard insisted again.

"So bringing these two loves together, Marseille and football around OM, is a dream job for me," stating the objective "to establish OM among the clubs that are destined to play in the Champions League every year," by building "a team that works."

"The club faces multiple challenges, it is somewhat at a crossroads," said Mr. Richard, mentioning in particular "economic challenges, mainly because of television broadcasting rights, a subject I know quite well," Orange having been a broadcaster of Ligue 1 for a time.

The future president has stated his ambition to achieve a "period of seriousness, appeasement, and stability".

Regarding the club's ownership structure, Mr. McCourt reiterated that he was open to the arrival of a "strategic partner." But he also reminded everyone that he "expected results on the pitch."

Currently 4th in the French championship, therefore not directly qualified for the Champions League, OM is going through a chaotic season, marked by the departure of Longoria and by that, a few days earlier, of the Italian coach Roberto De Zerbi.

Now coached by Habib Beye, the Marseille team hosts Metz, bottom of Ligue 1, this Friday evening at the Stade Vélodrome.