French club Marseille hires Stéphane Richard as president amid turbulent season

French club Marseille hired Stéphane Richard as its new president on Friday amid another turbulent season.

The 64-year-old Richard is the former chief executive of French telecoms giant Orange and will replace Alban Juster, who has been there on an interim basis since Pablo Longoria lost his position. Richard officially starts in July.

Marseille parted ways with Longoria last month on the back of coach Roberto De Zerbi's departure.

De Zerbi, who is now coaching struggling Tottenham, left in the wake of a crushing 5-0 defeat against Paris Saint-Germain and an embarrassing exit from the Champions League following a 3-0 loss at Club Brugge on the final day of the group stage.

Marseille was the first French side to win the Champions League — back in 1993 — but PSG matched that feat last season.

While PSG is now the dominant force in French soccer, Marseille has not won a trophy since the League Cup in 2012.

Marseille's 67,000-capacity Stade Velodrome stadium become known as Orange Vélodrome due to a naming rights change in 2016, which came during Richard's tenure at Orange.

Richard said he had a fondness for Marseille — where he passed his baccalaureate exams and has owned a house — and is a regular attendee for games against bitter rival PSG.

“I know the city intimately and I know the context of the club,” he said at a news conference Friday. “I love this stadium, coming here. Every time there's a victory, like against PSG early this season, the atmosphere is wonderful.”

Marseille's American owner Frank McCourt said Richard's candidature stood out among many others and that the deal was concluded over a long dinner in London.

“I told myself he's the ideal person," said McCourt, who took over in 2016. "The right person to lead this project."

The 72-year-old McCourt is the former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and bought Marseille from Russian-born billionaire Margarita Louis-Dreyfus.

Marseille sits in fourth place in Ligue 1, with only Champions League qualification to aim for. Marseille hosted rock-bottom Metz later Friday.

Marseille has lost ground in recent weeks and is one point behind third-place Lille and level on points with fifth-place Monaco. The top three qualify directly while the side in fourth enters qualifying.

The season began amid optimism after a second-place finish behind PSG last season, but tensions were quickly apparent at the pressure-cooker club.

France midfielder Adrien Rabiot and English forward Jonathan Rowe were both transferred out of the club following a locker-room brawl after the opening game of the season at Rennes. Rabiot went to AC Milan and Rowe to Bologna, also in Italy's Serie A.

Rabiot has 57 caps for France and was Marseille's best player last season. His assured presence in midfield, leadership qualities and crisp passing have been sorely missed.

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FILE -Marseille players are seen during a training session ahead of their UEFA Cup quarterfinal first leg soccer match against Shakhtar Donetsk in Donetsk, Ukraine, April 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)

FILE -General view of Stade Velodrome stadium during the Euro 2016 Group A soccer match between France and Albania in Marseille, France, June 15, 2016. (AP Photo/Claude Paris, File)

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Voters in the small Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti cast ballots to elect their president on Friday, with longtime leader Ismaïl Omar Guelleh expected to secure a sixth term in office after lawmakers scrapped presidential age limits last year.

Guelleh, 78, has ruled the country of about 1 million for more than two decades. The results of the 2021 election showed him winning nearly 99% of the vote.

He faces a single challenger, Mohamed Farah Samatar, a former ruling party member, in a race analysts say offers little genuine competition. Opposition groups frequently boycott elections, citing restrictions on political freedoms.

Guelleh succeeded his uncle, former President Hassan Gouled Aptidon, in 1999, extending a family-led system that has shaped the country’s politics for decades.

Regional observers from the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development monitored the vote.

“The scrapping of term limits in Djibouti is less about electoral competition and more about preserving regime continuity in a highly strategic state," Mohamed Husein Gaas of the Raad Peace Research Institute told The Associated Press.

"While it raises concerns about democratic backsliding, external actors are likely to prioritize stability given Djibouti’s critical role in Red Sea security and global trade routes, especially amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East,” he said.

Djibouti hosts multiple foreign military bases, including those of the U.S., China, France and Japan, underscoring its strategic importance along a key global shipping route linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Revenues from these arrangements, along with port services for neighboring Ethiopia, underpin the economy.

But that model leaves Djibouti exposed to external shocks. It depends heavily on Ethiopia’s use of its ports, while global disruptions — including Red Sea shipping insecurity — pose risks to revenue.

A woman casts her vote at a polling station during early voting in the presidential elections, in Mouloud, Djibouti, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Guirreh Moumin)

People line up to vote at a polling station during the 2026 Djibouti presidential election, in Mouloud, Djibouti, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Guirreh Moumin)

Women cast their votes at a polling station during the Djibouti presidential elections in Mouloud, Djibouti, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Guirreh Moumin)

People line up to vote at a polling station during the 2026 Djibouti presidential election, in Mouloud, Djibouti, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Guirreh Moumin)

A man casts his vote at a polling station during early voting in the presidential elections at Mouloud, in Djibouti, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Guirreh Moumin)

A woman casts her vote at a polling station during early voting in the presidential elections at Mouloud, in Djibouti, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Guirreh Moumin)