MARSEILLE - MARSEILLE'S majority shareholder Robert Louis-Dreyfus died after a long battle with leukemia on Saturday at the age of 63, according to club sources.

The Swiss-born millonaire businessman took over Marseille in 1996 and under his control the French south coast giants reached two Uefa Cup finals.

Louis-Dreyfus, who invested 200 million euros (S$407 million) into the club, was also handed a 10 month suspended prison sentence and fined 200,000 euros for his role in suspect player transfers in the 1990s.

Mr Jean-Claude Dassier, Marseille's new president, refused to confirm or deny the news, telling AFP: 'Neither the family nor the friends of Robert louis-Dreyfus have confirmed this information to me. I don't have anything to say before the family (speaks).' -- AFP