Former Olympique Marseille boss dies after contracting coronavirus
Former Olympique Marseille president Pape Diouf died after contracting the novel coronavirus, the French football governing body LFP said on Tuesday.
Diouf presided over Marseille between 2005 and 2009, during which time the club finished on the Ligue 1 podium three times and reached two French Cup finals.
“The [LFP] learned this evening with immense sadness of the passing of Pape Diouf at the age of 68,” the league said in a statement. “Pape Diouf will be remembered as a charismatic, endearing and passionate leader.”
A couple of hours after tweeting that Diouf was “affected by Covid-19,” the disease caused by the virus, Marseille paid its respects to the former president’s family.
“Pape will remain forever in the hearts of Marseillais as one of the great craftsmen of the history of the club,” the club tweeted.
The 68-year-old, who was born in Chad to Senegalese parents, had been repatriated from the city of Nice in southern France to Dakar on a medical plane, news agency AFP reported citing Senegal’s public television channel RTS.
A former sports journalist for weekly newspaper La Marseillaise, Diouf was the agent of several players of the French team before taking the presidency at Marseille in 2005, becoming the first black president of a first-tier European club.
Former and current players were among those who paid tribute to Diouf on social media after the news broke.
“Few people in the world of football have touched me or made an impact like you have had in my life or in my career,” Anderlecht’s Samir Nasri posted on Instagram, together with an old group picture of the Marseille team with Diouf sat in the middle.
“You have always been a mentor, you have been my first agent, you have been my president and it is with a heavy heart that I must say goodbye. You left too soon, I will never forget you,” the French player added without naming Diouf.
“Deeply saddened to learn of the loss of Pape Diouf,” Fiorentina winger Franck Ribery, who played for Marseille from 2005 to 2008, said on Twitter. “All our thoughts and prayers to his family.”
Read also: COVID-19: No request from Nigerians aboard for evacuation- Foreign minister
“No room for rivalry tonight. Very sad to learn of the death of a monument to our football, my condolences to the Diouf family,” Paris Saint Germain striker Kylian Mbappe tweeted, adding the hashtag “StayAtHome.”
“[Diouf] was an important man in our football, a quality man, atypical, listened to and respected,” French Football Federation (FFF) President Noel Le Graet said in a statement before sending his and the federation’s “sincere condolences to his family and loved ones.”
“I learned with deep sadness of the death of Pape Diouf,” Senegal President Macky Sall said on Twitter.
“I pay tribute to this great figure in sport … To his family, I offer, on behalf of the nation, my deepest condolences.” (dpa)
