October 29, 2022
The brief from today:
Marseille set to bring back a legend
Marseille legend, Jean-Pierre Papin, is on track to return to the south of France, but this time in a directorial role. Papin was one of Europe’s greatest attackers in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and his spell with Marseille was his most noteworthy. He would play for the Ligue 1 side from 1986-1992, and in that timeframe he managed to make 275 appearances scoring 182 goals. These exploits saw him eventually win the Champions League in 1993, and also claim the Ballon d’or in 1991. He was recently the manager at Chartres since the 2020/21 season, but the reports in France are suggesting he has vacated that position in order to assist current Marseille president, Pablo Longoria, as an adviser. Confirmation of the return, and new appointment, is expected within the next two weeks, and it’s certainly one the fans will be eager to receive.
Papin (above) will be returning to Marseille as an adviser to club president, Pablo Longoria
France image rights issue started earlier than expected
The recent disputes between France internationals and the France Football Federation (FFF) over player image rights, which took place in March, and was then followed by another round of disagreements in September, were thought to be the first of such incidents. The reported disagreements stemming from players refusing to take part in advertising campaigns with national team sponsors was seemingly led by Kylian Mbappe. There was a lot media coverage because of the tension, but also because of Mbappe’s notoriety. Today, however, it was reported that these differences had actually first occurred much earlier. Raphael Varane and his representatives had actually brought up similar concerns, and also boycotted certain publicity photo opportunities as far back as 2015. The France defender refused to be associated with certain fast food, vehicle, and gambling companies that sponsored the French national team. There were allegedly clashes between the aforementioned sponsors and some of the companies he was endorsing with his club side at the time, Real Madrid. Noel Le Graet, the FFF president, was receptive to the complaints then, and was able to reach a compromise with Varane that excused him from certain campaigns. The recent clashes, however, have been far more arduous and drawn out, which is odd considering Varane is included in them and there was a precedent, albeit a less publicized one, set seven years ago.
France vice captain, Varane (above), actually raised the image rights issue in 2015