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Soccer scam trial starts
21/03/2007 17:39 - (SA)
Marseille - Former French World Cup winner Franck Leboeuf and a former Marseille team-mate have gone on trial, accused of taking illegal transfer payments.
Leboeuf, a former Chelsea defender who won the 1998 World Cup, and Argentine defender Eduardo Tuzzio face up to five years in jail and fines of $477 500 if found guilty in the scam.
Neither player attended the opening of the trial.
The players are accused of involvement in Marseille's purchase of Tuzzio in July 2001 for $8.15m, a month after he was valued at $2.8m by his club, San Lorenzo of Argentina.
The prosecution said Tuzzio joined Marseille via Swiss club FC Servette to falsely inflate his value and that several middlemen gained sizable commissions as a result.
Leboeuf is accused of receiving $582 000 via a Luxembourg bank account, while Tuzzio is alleged to have had $3.3m paid into a New York account.
Tuzzio's agent Gilbert Sau, Argentine financier Hector Bargas, former Marseille financial director Pierre Dubiton and former Servette officials Christian Herve and Patrick Trotignon are all alleged to have been involved.
The 32-year-old Tuzzio played 19 league games for Marseille, alongside Leboeuf, in the 2001-2002 season and four the next.
He joined Spain's Real Mallorca in 2005 before returning to Argentina to play for River Plate.
In June, 14 people stood trial in Marseille over the embezzlement of millions of dollars from the soccer club.
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- AP
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