The new municipal majority, which took office in early July, hopes to convince Olympique de Marseille to buy the legendary enclosure, owned by the city.
And now we are talking about the sale of the Vélodrome stadium. A Marseille-style soap opera that has been going on for several years now, most often following changes in political colors at the city hall. Latest episode to date, the one hosted by Benoit Payan, first deputy of the new city councilor, Michèle Rubirola (EELV). During the municipal campaign which ended on July 4, Payan clearly mentioned the sale of the venue located on Boulevard Michelet and in which the Olympique de Marseille has been playing since… 1937.
Rent of 5.125 million per year
“If OM is a seller, let’s sell them the stadium. All the big European clubs need their working tools to develop. Rather than spending millions of euros per year for the Marseille taxpayer, we would all have an interest in selling the stadium to the Olympique de Marseille ”, again recalled Benoît Payan on Monday to a question asked by Sylvain Souvestre (LR) during ” a deliberation on the extension of the three-year agreement between the City and the OM.
Remember that OM is the sole manager of the Vélodrome stadium, which belongs to the city. The club pays rent of 5.125 million euros each year. But as specified Provence, it seems that Franck McCourt, the American owner, is not very keen to buy the stadium. He has indeed other “cats” to fry at the moment, notably with the takeover offensive led by the Franco-Tunisian businessman, Mohamed Ayachi Ajroudi. Never mind. Payan would have another card up his sleeve. The Marseille Provence Métropole urban community headed by Martine Vassal, its president.
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“We extend our hand to her, she who is very attached to the stadium which has a metropolitan dimension, proposed Benoit Payan and relayed in the columns of Provence. It is inconceivable that the Marseillais pay for the Venelles swimming pool or for the Miramas stadium but that the inhabitants of Saint-Marc-Jaumegarde or Aix-en-Provence do not pay for the Vélodrome stadium. (…) It would have a general meaning and we would thus succeed in lowering the taxes of the Marseillais. ”
Renovated between March 2011 and 2014 in preparation for Euro 2016, the new-look Velodrome stadium cost the modest sum of 267 million euros. The city of Marseille had spent 40 million for the work while Marseille Provence Métropole had for its part dropped 20 million (against 30 for the Bouches-du-Rhône department). The Vélodrome, whose capacity has increased from 60,000 to 67,394 seats, is the city’s main sports facility and the second largest stadium in the country (behind the Stade de France).
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