1992–93 French Division 1

Olympique de Marseille won Division 1 season 1992/1993 of the French Association Football League with 55 points but lost its title due to a bribery scandal. The side that finished second, Paris Saint Germain refused it, making it still unattributed.

Affaire VA-OM

In 1993 Olympique de Marseille reached both the very pinnacle and the very bottom of the European club game. A corruption scandal and a Canal+'s shining light for Paris Saint-Germain would threaten their hegemony. The European Cup was denied, but the glory would eventually come for Marseille. As the European Cup was renamed the Champions League in 1992–93, Marseille reached the Final for the second time in three years, but this time they prevailed. "Les Phocéens" won Group A and suddenly found themselves in the final against Milan. Basile Boli hit home the winning goal as Marseille became the first French side to win a European trophy and the only to win the Champions League. Didier Deschamps and Fabien Barthez became the youngest captain and goalkeeper, respectively, to capture the title.[1] Their fans greeted the triumph by chanting "A jamais les premiers" because they won the first "Classico" against PSG in 1971. The city exploded with a joy shared across the nation but no sooner had the trophy been hoist aloft than the celebrations were brought to a halt.[2]

A corruption scandal revolving around a match against Valenciennes emerged a few days before the European Final.[3] Allegations of match fixing were levelled at them and their president Bernard Tapie. It is believed that Tapie bribed Valenciennes to lose so that Olympique de Marseille would win the French League earlier, giving them more time to prepare for the Champions League Final.[4] Valenciennes players Christophe Robert, Jorge Burruchaga and Jacques Glassmann claimed that the Marseille midfielder Jean-Jacques Eydelie offered them ₣250,000 to "take the foot off of the gas" in a May 20 match against OM.[5] Marseille was later stripped of their league title and relegated to Division 2 by the French Football Federation, while Bernard Tapie was forced to step down as its President. Marseille was not stripped of the Champions League, as the match in question was not in that competition, but lost the right to play in the 1993–94 UEFA Champions League.[6] No winner was declared for the 1992–1993 season. The LFP allotted the title to Paris Saint-Germain but Canal + refused it. The TV chain feared the reactions of their subscribers in Provence and threatened to withdraw football completely if the title was allotted to PSG. Ultimately the LFP decided that the 1993 title would remain unattributed. Canal+ refused letting the club participate in next year's UEFA Champions League after OM's exclusion by the UEFA.[7]

Participating teams

 

Final table

Position Club Points Played W D L GF GA GD av. attendance Europe, Ligue 2
DSQ Olympique Marseille 55 38 23 9 6 72 36 +36 Stripped of title.
Barred from Champions League due to a bribery scandal.
Retained league status.
1 Paris SG 51 38 20 11 7 61 29 +32 UEFA Cup Winner's Cup (winner of Coupe de France)
2 AS Monaco 51 38 21 9 8 56 29 +27 Champions League
3 Bordeaux 48 38 18 12 8 42 25 +17 UEFA Cup
4 FC Nantes Atlantique 45 38 17 11 10 54 39 +15 UEFA Cup
5 Auxerre 43 38 18 7 13 57 44 +13 UEFA Cup
6 AS Saint-Étienne 43 38 13 17 8 34 26 +8
7 RC Strasbourg 40 38 12 16 10 58 57 +1
8 Lens 40 38 12 16 10 36 41 -5
9 Montpellier HSC 36 38 12 12 14 36 41 -5
10 SM Caen 35 38 13 9 16 55 54 +1
11 FC Metz 35 38 11 13 14 44 45 -1
12 Toulouse FC 34 38 9 16 13 36 45 -9
13 Olympique Lyonnais 33 38 9 15 14 40 45 -5
14 Le Havre AC 33 38 11 11 16 42 53 -11
15 FC Sochaux-Montbéliard 32 38 11 10 17 33 50 -17
16 Lille 30 38 7 16 15 26 48 -22
17 Valenciennes FC 29 38 9 11 16 42 57 -15 Relegated to Ligue 2
18 Sporting Toulon Var 25 38 6 13 19 31 57 -26 Administratively relegated to Championnat National due to financial problems
19 Nîmes Olympique 22 38 3 16 19 32 66 -34 Relegated to Ligue 2

(Victory:2 points, Draw:1 point, Defeat:0 points)

Promoted from Ligue 2, who will play in Division 1 season 1993/1994

Top goalscorers

Position Player's name Nationality Club Goals
1 Alen Bokšić  Croatia Olympique Marseille 23
2 Xavier Gravelaine  France SM Caen 20
3 Jürgen Klinsmann  Germany AS Monaco 19
4 Rudi Völler  Germany Olympique Marseille 18
5 Joël Tiéhi  Ivory Coast Le Havre AC 14
5 George Weah  Liberia Paris SG 14
7 Nicolas Ouédec  France FC Nantes Atlantique 13
7 Bernard Ferrer  France Toulouse FC 13
9 Franck Sauzée  France Olympique Marseille 12
9 Youri Djorkaeff  France AS Monaco 12
9 Franck Leboeuf  France RC Strasbourg 12
12 François Omam-Biyik  Cameroon RC Lens 11
12 Luboš Kubík  Czech Republic FC Metz 11
12 Anthony Bancarel  France Toulouse FC 11
15 Zinedine Zidane  France Bordeaux 10
15 Japhet N'Doram  Chad FC Nantes Atlantique 10
15 Lionel Prat  France FC Sochaux-Montbéliard 10
15 Jorge Burruchaga  Argentina Valenciennes FC 10
19 Gérald Baticle  France Auxerre 9
19 Lilian Laslandes  France Auxerre 9
19 Stéphane Paille  France SM Caen 9
19 Guia Gourouli Georgia (country) Georgia Le Havre AC 9
19 Rémi Garde  France Olympique Lyonnais 9
19 Jérôme Gnako  France AS Monaco 9

[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "1992/93: French first for Marseille". UEFA. 26 May 1993. Archived from the original on 2 January 2007. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  2. ↑ "France's passion play". FIFA. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
  3. ↑ "Tapie Directly Implicated As Marseille Trial Opens". International Herald Tribune. 14 March 1995. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  4. ↑ "Scandal leaves a stain on the white shirt of Marseille". The Independent. 13 July 1993. Retrieved 28 October 2009.
  5. ↑ "From Glory to Disgrace: Soccer Saga Grips Marseille". The New York Times. 12 July 1993. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  6. ↑ "Marseille: the French exception". FIFA. 13 August 2008. Retrieved 24 April 2010.
  7. ↑ Le PSG est vice-champion d'un championnat sans champion suite au déclassement de l'Olympique de Marseille (Affaire VA-OM). Canal+ a refusé le titre de champion pour le PSG car la chaîne cryptée ne voulait pas se fâcher avec ses abonnés de province. On lira sur cette affaire, Jean-François Pérès et Daniel Riolo, OM-PSG, PSG-OM. Les meilleurs ennemis, enquête sur une rivalité, Paris, Mango Sport, 2003, p. 131–133: "Dans cette affaire, le PSG va plutôt choisir l'« intérêt supérieur de Canal+ » et s'obstiner dans son refus."
  8. ↑ Football: D1 le classement des buteurs SAISON 1992-93
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