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Jean-Pierre Bernès

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Jean-Pierre Bernès
General manager of Olympique de Marseille
In office
1989–1994
Personal details
Born1959 or 1960 (age 64–65)
Salon-de-Provence, France
Residence(s)Cassis, France
Alma materSciences Po Aix
OccupationFootball agent

Jean-Pierre Bernès (born 1959/60)[1] is a French football agent and former football executive. Whilst general manager of Olympique de Marseille, Bernès was involved in the French football bribery scandal.

Personal life

Bernès grew up in Salon-de-Provence. His father was in the military and his mother taught music.[2] Bernès is a graduate of Sciences Po Aix.[1] He currently lives in Cassis, Bouches-du-Rhône.[2]

Career

In 1980, Bernès began selling membership cards for Olympique de Marseille, in order to try and help their financial difficulties.[1] In Autumn 1981, he joined the club working in administration.[3] In 1989, he became the club's general manager.[2] In 1993, Bernès was involved in the French football bribery scandal. The incident involved bribing three Valenciennes to underperform in a match against Marseille, so that Marseille could stay fresh for their Champions League final against A.C. Milan.[4] Bernès was involved in the phone call to arrange the bribe.[4] In July 1993, Bernès left his role at Marseille, due to the scandal.[5] At the trial, Bernès was given a two year suspended sentence and a fine.[6] In 1994, Bernès was banned for life by the French Football Federation,[2][7] although the ban was overturned by FIFA in 1996.[2][5][8]

In 1999, Bernès began working as a football agent,[2] working with Zinedine Zidane's agent Alain Migliaccio [fr].[9] In 2007, Bernès became the agent for Franck Ribéry, prior to his €25 million transfer from Marseille to Bayern Munich.[10] In the same year, he recommended Toifilou Maoulida to Bordeaux manager Laurent Blanc.[11] In 2010, Bernès spoke to his client and Marseille coach Didier Deschamps about signing midfielder Alou Diarra, who was also a client of Bernès.[12] In 2011, Bernès was agent to Samir Nasri when he transferred from Arsenal to Manchester City.[9] In 2016, Bernès worked with Jocelyn Gourvennec whilst he was applying to manage at Nantes.[13] In the same year, Bernès announced Laurent Blanc's departure from Paris Saint-Germain.[14] In 2018, Blanc decided to terminate his contract with Bernès.[15] Other players Bernès has been an agent for include Jérémy Ménez, Jérémy Mathieu, and Jimmy Briand.[8]

Between 2010 and 2013, Bernès made an average of €3.6 million per year, making him the second highest paid agent in European football.[16]: 95  In 2016, the estimated value of players represented by Bernès was €87 million.[16]: 80 

In 2018, it was suggested that Bernès was in the running for the vacant Lyon sports director role.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Retour au ballon". Libération (in French). 16 August 2008. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Henry, Michael (16 August 2008). "Retour au ballon". Libération. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
  3. ^ Garcia, David (April 2013). Histoire secrète de l'OM (in French). Groupe Flammarion. ISBN 978-2081299573. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  4. ^ a b Brigaudeau, Anne (20 May 2018). "Le jour où Bernard Tapie a truqué le match Valenciennes-OM" (in French). France Info. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Jean-Pierre Bernès n'est plus banni". Libération. 8 June 1996. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  6. ^ Lengel, David (29 July 2016). "The Joy of Six: sports executives who paid for their crimes in prison". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  7. ^ "Football: Marseille are to be relegated". The Independent. 23 April 1994. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  8. ^ a b "Jean-Pierre Bernès, le paria devenu agent millionnaire". France24 (in French). 25 August 2011. Archived from the original on 13 September 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  9. ^ a b Lyttleton, Ben (19 August 2011). "Nasri transfer cements Jean-Pierre Bernes as France's prime operator". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  10. ^ "L'ex-agent de Franck Ribéry lui réclame 3,5 millions d'euros en justice". Agence France-Presse (in French). 8 December 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2018 – via Eurosport.
  11. ^ Doyle, Paul (16 August 2007). "Blanc brings brilliance to Bordeaux". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  12. ^ "Marseille coach Deschamps confirms Diarra talks". Times of Malta. 15 July 2010. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  13. ^ Boudard, Jean-Marcel (21 May 2018). "FC Nantes. Gourvennec : les enjeux d'une rencontre cruciale entre Kita et Bernès". Ouest-France (in French). Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  14. ^ Aarons, Ed (20 June 2016). "Laurent Blanc to leave PSG before the end of the week, confirms agent". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  15. ^ "Ménage de printemps: Laurent Blanc se sépare du célèbre agent Jean-Pierre Bernès". Agence France-Presse. 25 April 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2018 – via 20 minutes.
  16. ^ a b Rossi, Giambattista; Semens, Anna; Brocard, Jean Francois (June 2016). Sports Agents and Labour Markets: Evidence from World Football. Routledge. ISBN 9781317744801. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  17. ^ "OL : Jean-Pierre Bernès futur directeur sportif de l'OL ?". Football001.com. 21 March 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
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