1951
Birth of Mababa - his grandfather's first name - Diouf, known as Pape Diouf, on December 18 in Abéché, Chad. Son of a soldier of Senegalese origin stationed in Fort-Lamy (ex-N'Djamena) then at the French Embassy in Dakar, he spent his early youth between the capital of Senegal, Richard Toll and Mauritania. A veteran of the Liberation and standard-bearer of the free French forces, his father dreams of seeing him embark on a military career. At 17, he sent him to Marseille to finish his high school.
»READ ALSO - Victim of the coronavirus, the former president of OM, Pape Diouf, has died
1971
Against the father's opinion, he left the military school and passed his bac as a free candidate. A political science student at the University of Aix-en-Provence, he returned to the PTT to earn a living and became friends with one of the inspectors in place, Tony Salvatori. Freelance journalist at La Marseillaise , the communist daily in the region, the latter offers Pape to write his first articles on football. "I was the only one who didn't have my PC card," he said later. The young journalist makes his place, covers the daily news of Olympique de Marseille. He stands out for his acidic pen - it will earn him several awards - and climbs the ladder. Until becoming head of section.
1987
Departure from La Marseillaise . After a stint at the ephemeral local magazine L'Hebdomadaire , he is on the adventure of Sport , daily competitor of L'Equipe launched by Jérôme Bureau and Xavier Couture. The newspaper quickly collapsed and Pape Diouf distanced himself from journalism. In the meantime, he has forged solid friendships in the football community, among leaders and players. It organizes gala matches in Africa in tribute to continental legends like Roger Milla or Eusebio. OM goalkeeper Joseph-Antoine Bell and Basile Boli ask the man they consider to be a big brother to help them manage their careers. In 1989, he created his player agent company Mondial Promotion which would defend the interests of many leading players (Marcel Desailly, Abedi Pelé, Didier Drogba, Grégory Coupet, Samir Nasri…).
2004
After having twice rejected Robert Louis-Dreyfus and Christophe Bouchet, then owner and president of OM, he finally agreed to take on the role of general manager of the Marseille club. Then succeeds Bouchet as president in 2005. A rigorous manager familiar with Marseille's specificities, he cleans up finances while managing to rebuild a competitive team thanks to his network and his flair (recruitments of Mandanda, Ribéry, Valbuena, Niang). With him, OM found the top of the table between 2005 and 2009 (5th, 5th, 2nd, 3rd, 2nd) and returned to the Champions League.
2010
On May 5, 2010, Olympique de Marseille was crowned French champion by defeating Rennes (3-1) in a Vélodrome in fusion. A month and a half earlier, OM had ended 17 years without a trophy by winning the League Cup. Captain of OM European champion in 1993, Didier Deschamps brings success on the Canebière as a coach. A coach that Pape Diouf had sought a year earlier to succeed Erik Gerets. Disembarked from the Marseille ship in the spring of 2009, the Franco-Senegalese will not put his name on the OM list. But any Marseille supporter knows how his work has contributed to the club's return to the fore. Even today, while the blue and white people mourn their former president who disappeared on Tuesday, at the age of 68.
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