Legendary French football icon Marcel Desailly is reportedly struggling financially
The ex-AC Milan and Chelsea star was part of the 1998 World Cup winning side
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By DOMINIC HOGAN
Published: 15:34 EST, 7 December 2024 | Updated: 15:34 EST, 7 December 2024
Marcel Desailly may be one of the most decorated and celebrated figures in French football, but according to reports he is struggling financially ahead of a court date to settle a dispute with his ex-partner.
Desailly and Cosma Batista de Alcantara are due at the Paris judicial court on Tuesday amid an ongoing case to confirm whether he is the biological father of his ex-partner's daughter, Victoria.
French outlet Le Parisien claims that Desailly has refused to acknowledge Victoria as his own since 2021, though he was reportedly ordered to take a paternity test in March.
However, a DNA test has in fact confirmed that he is the father of the child, and as such could be forced to pay alimony of around £4,148 (€5,000) each month to Batista de Alcantara, who he was with between 2010 and 2018.
The only issue is that according to the same French publication, Desailly is 'almost ruined' financially, and as per the outlet, he says he is unable to pay the money.
It claims that the former Chelsea and AC Milan - who previously earned around £7,100-a-month (€8600) from beIN as a pundit until the end of August - is currently repaying around £4,148 each month to the government as part of a tax adjustment.
Marcel Desailly is reportedly struggling financially ahead of a court date with a former partner
Desailly is widely regarded as one of the greatest French internationals in Les Bleus' long history
He has reportedly done so since 2022, after being sanctioned for evading income tax between 2011 and 2019, and as such pays the fee to the French tax authorities monthly.
Le Parisien also states that the 1998 World Cup winner was forced to sell off assets in order to pay alimony to his other four children with Virginie Desailly, as well as a fifth child, Aida, who he also refused to acknowledge as biologically his.
Yet Batista de Alcantara is seemingly not convinced of her former partner's financial situation, as she revealed to Le Parisien.
'Since I have known him, he has always claimed that he did not have a penny,' she admitted. 'The only thing that changed is that at the time, I believed him.
'He kept telling me that we were going to move into an apartment that he owned on rue de la Paix in Paris, and we never lived there.'
Le Parisien also claims to have seen 'accounting documents' which attest that the legendary former defender has not received dividends from companies based in France or Ghana since 2009.
His lawyer, Francoise Majnoni d'Intignano reportedly claims her client is not 'a wealthy footballer and businessman, as Ms. Batista de Alcantara tries to make people believe.'
They added: 'His professional future is most uncertain [having] no prospect of a new contract [with beIN Sports].'
The versatile defender was part of the World Cup winning side of 1998 alongside the likes of Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and Didier Deschamps
In an interview earlier this year with The Guardian, Desailly revealed how his 'wealth' had been utilised to help with charity work in Ghana, where he was born, and to form an 'academy'.
'I’m lucky. Because of my wealth, I’ve been able to create an academy and do a lot of charity work in Ghana, to give back a little bit,' he told The Guardian.
'And at the same time I continue to stay very close to football. I’m involved with FIFA. I’m involved with UEFA.
'It’s much more useful than being a coach, taking care of only one team. I don’t know if I was a star, but I’m now a legend. And through the legend, I feel the sun is shining.
According to reports, Desailly met Batista de Alcantara in 2010 in Paris while he was still married to Virginie, and that they would meet 'a few more times' before moving in together in an apartment on Rue de la Pompe in Paris.
Batista de Alcantara gave birth to Victoria in March 2014, and she told Le Parisien that her child 'doesn’t understand why he (Desailly) doesn’t call her anymore,' and that 'she suffers, and I’m sad for her.'
She claims that Desailly has sent money for Victoria in the past, though this was allegedly not sufficient to cover the costs of the child's tuition at a French school in Spain, where she lives.
France FootballChelsea