OM Nearly Withdrew from Europa League Before Deciding to Compete

Olympique de Marseille nearly did not compete in the Europa League this season. According to L’Équipe, the club’s board seriously weighed the option of a forfeit before validating its participation in the competition, in a context of sporting crisis and UEFA financial sanctions.

The Marseille club is approaching this European campaign in a concerning situation. Thirteenth in Ligue 1 after a poor start to the season — three defeats in the first four matches — OM also completed a summer transfer window without any reinforcements. On the disciplinary front, UEFA imposed a 10 million euro fine on the club coupled with a suspended exclusion from European competitions, a consequence of breaches of financial fair-play rules.

It was in this context that the Marseille board considered following the example of AC Milan or Juventus Turin, which in the past renounced the Europa League or the Ligue Europa Conférence to ease UEFA pressure and clean up their finances.

Ultimately, OM chose to maintain its participation. The Europa League represents a significant source of revenue for a club with weakened finances, even if its prize money remains far inferior to that of the Ligue des Champions. The decision would have been different, however, if the club had been relegated to the Ligue Europa Conférence: in that case, according to L’Équipe, Marseille would have declined the invitation.

OM’s first match of the European campaign is played in Istanbul, on Besiktas’s pitch.