Marseille owner Robert Louis-Dreyfus has died after a long battle with Leukaemia.
Deschamps leads tributes to owner
Marseille owner Robert Louis-Dreyfus has died after a long battle with Leukaemia.
Louis-Dreyfus, a Swiss national, passed away on Saturday in a hospital in Zurich following years of ill-health.
The 63-year-old took charge at Stade Velodrome in 1996 and invested over €200m euros into OM but never saw them win a major trophy.
A statement on Marseille's official website read: "The death Saturday of Robert Louis-Dreyfus, major shareholder of the club since December 1996, bereaves all the Marseille family.
"OM and all the Marseille family are in mourning. Saturday, Robert Louis-Dreyfus passed away aged 63 following a long illness. His directors and employees, all the OM players and all the sporting staff feel the sadness of Robert Louis-Dreyfus's family."
Marseille coach Didier Deschamps led the tributes to Louis-Dreyfus and he has called on the team to honour Louis-Dreyfus' memory by winning something in the new season.
"He was genuinely passionate about sport and football in particular," said Deschamps."He loved sportsmen and considered them as heroes.
"Despite his position in the business world, he was very humble and accessible which is rare enough in (football) to be underlined.
"The best homage Marseille's staff and players can pay to him is to have the best season possible."
