There were known heads this Wednesday in the former Benedictine abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Près, in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. Many personalities gathered there around the family of Bernard Tapie, for a first religious ceremony after his death last Sunday. Celebrities from various backgrounds like this man who had been in turn entrepreneur, singer, president of Olympique de Marseille, minister, actor and press boss
His coffin entered the church to applause. Mass, in the presence of First Lady Brigitte Macron, was held nearly a month after the ceremony in tribute to actor Jean-Paul Belmondo between these walls. OM scarf in hand, supporters greeted the athletes who came to pay tribute to the former club boss, who died Sunday at the age of 78 at his Paris home from cancer: the former striker Jean-Pierre Papin, golden ball with OM, football coach Rolland Courbis and Basile Boli, scorer of a victory goal in 1993 against AC Milan in the Champions League final, greeted by applause.
Line Renaud, Nicolas Sarkozy and Xavier Niel
We also noticed Bernard Hinault, former cyclist of the La Vie Claire team, owned by Bernard Tapie between 1984 and 1991. The director Claude Lelouch who had run Bernard Tapie in 1996 in “Hommes, Femmes, mode emploi”, was present, alongside actor Pierre Arditi, actress and singer Line Renaud, writer André Bercoff and singer-songwriter Didier Barbelivien.
The host Michel Drucker, the essayist Alain Minc, the general manager of BFM TV Marc-Olivier-Fogiel, the publicist Jacques Séguéla, or the businessman Xavier Niel had come running. Among the 300 guests were former President Nicolas Sarkozy, ex-ministers Bernard Kouchner, Rachida Dati, Christophe Castaner, and Jean-Louis Borloo, friend and former lawyer of the deceased. Many police officers surrounded the square of the church, where 250 people gathered. “Ah, it’s for Nanard,” exclaimed a man passing by.
“He did some good things, others bad, we must remember the whole”
“I came to greet the sportsman and the man who brought a lot to French football”, testified Hugues Modestin, 54 years old. “I am from the West Indies and the fact that he gave a chance, at OM, to players like Jocelyn Angloma from Guadeloupe, was important to me.” Jean-Claude, 68-year-old retiree from Val-de-Marne, praised “a figure in France of business and politics”. “He did some good things, others bad, we must remember the whole”, added his wife, Françoise, 77 years old.
This ceremony was held on the day when the Paris Court of Appeal should have rendered its decision in the controversial 2008 arbitration case between Bernard Tapie and Crédit Lyonnais. Because of his death, the court “noted the extinction of the public action” against him, after the release pronounced by the criminal court in 2019. But it will render its decision on November 24 concerning the five other defendants, including Orange boss Stéphane Richard. A fiery chapel will be erected Thursday in Marseille, where Bernard Tapie is to be buried on Friday.