His cowboy hat is placed on one end of the imposing table in a living room of the George V hotel. In this Parisian palace, property of the Saudi billionaire Al-Walid ben Talal officially closed due to the Covid crisis -19, Mohamed Ayachi Ajroudi seems at home. "Take a coffee or a little croissant," says the Franco-Tunisian. An appointment was made Thursday morning with this engineer by training, whose name appeared at the end of June in an eruptive dossier: a potential takeover of OM.
At 68, the businessman claims to have set up a "studied" project. "You do not embark on such an operation without having allies. If you don't have the right men around you, keep your sword in the sheath. I think now I have the right men around me, ”explains the man who claims to have been contacted in the early 1990s, then ten years later to return to the capital of the Marseille club. "If I didn't do it, it means that I was not ready psychologically and strategically," he breathes in his soft, calm voice.
His strategy? Make OM a “Mediterranean” club, “the engine to bring peace” to this basin of “500 million inhabitants, 350 million visitors”, he keeps repeating, scribbling these figures on the notepad placed at hand. For this, Mohamed Ayachi Ajroudi claims to have concluded his tour de table by attracting Saudi and Emirati investors and a potential Israeli shareholder. "If Mr. McCourt (Editor's note: the owner of OM) wants to sell, we are immediately ready," said the man who claims to already have his organizational chart. In an interview with Le Figaro, he even dreams of attracting Ronaldo and Zidane to the Bouches-du-Rhône.
To realize this dream, the Franco-Tunisian mandated the French bank Wingate and another establishment to supervise the file. Wingate has since established contact with Frank McCourt, says the businessman's entourage. For its part, the American clan formally denies any exchange with Mohamed Ayachi Ajroudi or any buyer.
"I am a worker who has never lacked for anything"
The man, who we are described as "millionaire", refuses to reveal his own financial power. "I've always been my boss, but I'm not going to say I weigh so much . I am a worker who has never lacked for anything. I am not looking for credit, I do not have a banker who lends me money. "He spent his life launching businesses or taking over others," notes an actor in Tunisian economic life. It is above all a jack-of-all-trades that has its start in the Gulf. "
On the side of Qatar, owner of PSG, we are convinced that behind Ajroudi hide Saudi Arabia and crown prince Mohamed ben Salmane, eager to transpose the rivalry between the two states to Ligue 1. Refuses him the label of " carrying bags ”and hammered throughout our meeting that he was“ a man of peace ”. And obviously also network.
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On Instagram, Mohamed Ayachi Ajroudi displays celebrities whose paths he crosses. He shows his meetings with his "brother" Emmanuel Macron, his "friend" Gérard Depardieu and the current president of the Institute of the Arab world, Jack Lang. “He is a generous, friendly man, a true humanist, salutes the former Minister of Culture, who went with Ajroudi and his family to Tunisia last year. He has a lot of ideas, he's a very inventive person. "
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A moment of reflection with my friend Gérard Depardieu 🙏 #tolerance:: #peacemaking #onelove #francophonie #unite #barbara #depardieu #staugustin #carthage #tunisie #tunis #monde
A post shared by Mohamed Ayachi Ajroudi (@ ajroudi.tn) on Aug 20, 2019 at 4:19 pm PDT
On his official website, where he defines himself as "a renowned engineer and inventor", Mohamed Ayachi Ajroudi unveils his CV: water, energy, transport, agriculture, environment ... The businessman, who recounts having created his first company in Bully-les-Mines in Pas-de-Calais, invested in a television channel in Tunisia, a country where he briefly entered politics and held responsibilities in football and handball.
These multiple activities have sometimes caused him some legal problems. In 2004, he was attacked in his suite at the George V on the sidelines of a heated negotiation with Veolia. Attacked in justice by the group for swindle and breach of trust, the Franco-Tunisian sees this complaint classified without follow-up then makes condemn the company for slanderous denunciation. Last year, he was acquitted on appeal of a falsification of contract and possession of a weapon after being sentenced to one year in prison at first instance.
According to our information, the businessman is facing legal proceedings against one of the companies highlighted on his site, the industrial group CNIM, which he accuses of not having honored contracts linked to markets in the Middle East. The company, which confirmed to the Parisian the existence of a litigation, did not wish to comment.
"When we whistle the Marseillaise, it makes me sick"
But should we take Mohamed Ayachi Ajroudi seriously? Yes, claim the former president of the Toulon rugby club Mourad Boudjellal and the former boxer Louis Acariès, friend and adviser of the late owner of OM Robert Louis-Dreyfus in the mid-2000s. The two men agreed to follow in the adventure. In the organization chart, the first would be president, and the second would occupy a place of “censor” similar to that which he had already held within the club phocéen. "His project is real," explains Louis Acariès.
"My husband is a sincere man, he is a fighter, supports his wife Josette, present by his side Thursday throughout the interview. He does not like to show off, but for me he is an architect of human bridges. He wants to unite people. "
Hand on heart, this former amateur boxer explains that he started the business solely for the love of the Mediterranean basin and France, joined at the age of 14 and where he studied in Lille and Saint- Malo. “My wife is French by birth, I am French by blood, because my family served this country militarily, says the native of the port city of Gabès. When we whistle the Marseillaise, it makes me sick. "
Unite "through sport"
"He is an opponent of political Islam, a convinced Republican," says Jack Lang. Mohammed Ayachi Ajroudi gets carried away when we tackle the subject. "I'm looking to find the France of my childhood (Editor's note: Tunisia was under French protectorate until 1956) . We lived in a neighborhood between Jews, Christians and Muslims and we all grew up together, ”he breathes. He dreams of putting OM at the center of a cultural project to unite "through sport".
"We talk a lot about figures in this operation, but the important thing is what we want to try to transmit with this club, supports one of his two sons, Mehdi, who came to spend a head in the living room of the palace at the end of the interview. We will sometimes say that we are utopians, but I prefer that to be jaded. "
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