Jean-Pierre Bernès

Jean-Pierre Bernès (born 1959/60)[1] is a French football agent and former football executive. He was general manager of Olympique de Marseille from 1989 to 1994, and resigned in the aftermath of the French football bribery scandal. Bernès has been an agent for multiple international footballers including Franck Ribéry and Didier Deschamps.

Jean-Pierre Bernès
General manager of Olympique de Marseille
In office
1989–1994
Personal details
Born1959 or 1960 (age 63–64)
Salon-de-Provence, France
Residence(s)Cassis, France
Alma materSciences Po Aix
OccupationFootball agent

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 players 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.[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. "Retour au ballon". Libération (in French). 16 August 2008. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  2. 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. 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. "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. "Jean-Pierre Bernès, le paria devenu agent millionnaire". France24 (in French). 25 August 2011. Archived from the original on 7 September 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  9. 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. 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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