Ex-Marseille Boss Jailed

Former Marseille head coach Rolland Courbis has been jailed for two years today along with shareholder Robert Louis-Dreyfus who received a ten month sentence after being found guilty of illicit transfer dealings in the late 1990s…

Oct 23, 2008 1:15:21 AM

Teams

Marseille

Montpellier head coach Rolland Courbis will spend two years in jail having been found guilty of receiving payments in connection with the transfer of players in Marseille from 1997 to 1999. He will be joined by shareholder Robert Louis-Dreyfus, who received a ten month sentence, l'Equipe reports.

Courbis was originally found guilty of the offence by the Correctional Court of Marseille in 2006, being sentenced to three years behind bars as well as being handed a hefty €375,000 fine. In addition, Courbis would not allow to be involved in any football club for five years.

But his appeal froze these bans, allowing the vastly experienced coach to take up a post with Montpellier last year. In addition, the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal reduced the sentence to two years in October 2007.

The immediate future remains relatively stable for Courbis, who can continue to operate as a coach pending the decision of a magistrate, which could take several months.

Also implicated in this case were Gilbert Sau, an agent who received an 18 month jail term, his collaborator, Bernard Almiras (6 months) and Lucio d'Onofrio (6 months), who is the current vice-president of Standard Liege.

Robin Bairner

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