Nécrologie – Mort cause de décès.
Laurent Tapie Creates Association to Fund Memorial Statue for Father
Laurent Tapie, son of Bernard Tapie, former president of Olympique de Marseille during the club’s victory in the Champions League thirty years ago, has announced the creation of an association called “À jamais les premiers” (Forever the First) to raise funds for the construction of a statue in memory of his father. Laurent Tapie revealed this information on Franceinfo on Friday, May 26. “When my father died, I expected something to be done, but after several months of seeing nothing, I decided to take this initiative,” he said. The statue will be erected on the esplanade of the Vélodrome stadium, which will bear Bernard Tapie’s name. This was an initiative of the Marseille city council after “lengthy discussions” with Laurent Tapie. “It makes sense for this monument to be on the esplanade, near the Vélodrome,” he said.
Laurent Tapie’s association aims to mobilize people who want to keep something of his father’s legacy alive and encourage them to donate towards the creation of a monument. The statue will depict a scene that actually occurred on the day after the Champions League final, when the team returned to Marseille. Everyone went to the Vélodrome stadium to present the trophy to the public. There was a moment when the players lifted Bernard Tapie onto their shoulders and he held the trophy aloft towards the crowd. This is the scene that the association wants to immortalize in sculpture. The monument will be monumental, with six characters on the ground and one on their shoulders. The six characters on the ground are six emblematic players from the winning team: Basile Boli, Didier Deschamps, Marcel Desailly, Fabien Barthez, Franck Sauzée, and Eric Di Meco. On their shoulders will be Bernard Tapie holding the Champions League trophy. The sculpture will cost around 300,000 euros. The association wants to install it on the esplanade near the Vélodrome stadium, which will be renamed the Bernard Tapie Esplanade.
Laurent Tapie explained why he decided to take this initiative. “When my father died, I expected something to be done because it’s a tradition that has always been respected by big clubs or big cities. The stadium in which Montpellier will soon play, which is under construction, will be called the Louis Nicollin stadium. There is a stand in Paris Saint-Germain’s Parc des Princes called Francis Borelli. The OM training center was renamed the Robert Louis-Dreyfus center when he died. Nothing was done for my father. I thought it would happen naturally. And then, when I saw that nothing was happening after several months, I decided to take this initiative.”
The Mayor, Benoît Payan, announced that the large esplanade leading to the Vélodrome stadium will bear Bernard Tapie’s name. Laurent Tapie is pleased with this decision. “I thank him for it. It’s the result of lengthy discussions. I myself have been discussing this with the city council for several months. We had discussed other possibilities. Then, they were very constructive. I am certain that this initiative will succeed because I am convinced that we will raise the necessary funds. It makes sense for this monument to be on the esplanade near the Vélodrome, and for the esplanade to be named after my father.”
If the association raises more money than it needs for the sculpture, it will donate the excess to Jean-Pierre Papin’s association “Neuf de cœur” (Nine of Hearts), which has been fighting against brain injuries for a long time and is a cause close to the former OM player’s heart. Laurent Tapie is pleased to include Jean-Pierre Papin in this initiative, as he was one of the most emblematic players of the OM team during his father’s time as president. Although he cannot be included in the sculpture, his association will benefit from any excess funds raised.