Prosecutor demands jail for ex-Marseille coach

The chief prosecutor at the Olympique Marseille bribery trial demanded yesterday a two-year jail term for former club coach Rolland Courbis.

Prosecutor Marc Cimamonti demanded a suspended jail term of three to four years for club owner Robert Louis-Dreyfus.

The trial is to establish whether Courbis, Louis-Dreyfus and 12 other people standing accused are guilty of illegal payments in the transfers of 15 players between 1997 and 1999.

Cimamonti had condemned earlier yesterday what he described as widespread fraud at the club.

"We are talking about systematic infringement of the rules and organised fraud," he told the court.

The trial is to end on Friday. Under French law, the verdict can be announced several weeks after the end of the trial.