Former Marseille midfielder Jean-Jacques Eydelie told French
sports daily L'Equipe that the whole Marseille team, except
striker Rudi Voeller, received an "injection" before the 1-0 win
over AC Milan. According to him the Marseille players were asked
to stand in a line to receive an injection before the match. He
also said doping and match-fixing was commonplace during his
time at Marseille. He was also involved in the match-fixing
scandal in which Marseille was stripped of its 1993 league title
for bribing opponents before a match. Eydelie said he was
ordered to give money to the wife of former Valenciennes player
Christophe Robert to convince him to lose the match in 1993
against visitors Marseille. According to Bernard Tapie, former
president for Marseille soccer club, Eydelie tried 18 months ago
to bribe teammates for money threatening to take reprisals if
they said no, so he says this could all be seen as a set up. He
also denied the allegations and said he plans to take legal
actions against Eydelie but the European soccer's governing body
would have to investigate the allegations first. If these
allegations were proven to be correct the UEFA would. Marseille
beat Milan 1-0 to become the first French club to lift Europe's
top club trophy. . The team included goalkeeper Fabien Barthez
and captain Didier Deschamps - both of whom won the World Cup
with France in 1998. On the other hand Arsenal's French manager
Arsene Wenger described former Olympique Marseille chairman
Bernard Tapie as a bad influence for French soccer. Wenger said
it did not surprise him, he also said it was the worst period
that French football has been through. He assured it was
"gangrenous from the inside because of the influence and the
methods" of Tapie at Marseille Marseille won 1-0 and clinched
their fifth consecutive title. They were stripped of the
championship the following year and demoted to the second
division after the scandal erupted. They were also banned from
defending their European title.
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