The 1992–93 Division 1 season was the 55th since its establishment. Marseille finished in first with 53 points, but were stripped of their title due to a bribery scandal. Paris Saint-Germain, who had finished second, refused to accept the title, resulting in no team being crowned champions for the season.
Affaire VA-OM
The European Cup was renamed the Champions League in 1992–93, and Marseille reached the final for the second time in three years. They defeated Milan to become the first French team to win a European Trophy.
A corruption scandal involving a league match against Valenciennes emerged a few days before the Champions League final. It was alleged that club president Bernard Tapie had bribed Valenciennes to lose so that Olympique de Marseille would win the French League earlier, giving them more time to prepare for the Champions League final. Valenciennes players Christophe Robert, Jorge Burruchaga and Jacques Glassmann claimed that Marseille midfielder Jean-Jacques Eydelie offered them ₣250,000 to "take the foot off of the gas" in the May 20 match. Marseille were later stripped of their league title and relegated to Division 2 by the French Football Federation, while Tapie was forced to step down as the club's president. Marseille were not stripped of the Champions League, as the match in question was not in the competition, but were excluded from the 1993–94 UEFA Champions League, as well as regular reigning European champions match in 1993 Intercontinental Cup and 1993 European Super Cup.
No winner was declared for the 1992–1993 season. The LFP allotted the title to Paris Saint-Germain but owners Canal+ refused it. The TV chain feared the reactions of their subscribers in Provence and threatened to withdraw from football completely if the title was awarded to PSG. Ultimately the LFP decided that the 1993 title would remain unattributed. Canal+ refused to allow the club to participate in the following season's Champions League after Marseille's exclusion by UEFA.Le PSG est vice-champion d'un championnat sans champion suite au déclassement de l'Olympique de Marseille (Affaire VA-OM). Canal+ a refusé le titre de champion pour le PSG car la chaîne cryptée ne voulait pas se fâcher avec ses abonnés de province. On lira sur cette affaire, Jean-François Pérès et Daniel Riolo, OM-PSG, PSG-OM. Les meilleurs ennemis, enquête sur une rivalité, Paris, Mango Sport, 2003, p. 131–133: "Dans cette affaire, le PSG va plutôt choisir l'« intérêt supérieur de Canal+ » et s'obstiner dans son refus."
Participating teams
Auxerre Bordeaux SM Caen Le Havre AC Lens Lille Olympique Lyonnais Olympique de Marseille FC Metz AS Monaco Montpellier HSC FC Nantes Atlantique Nîmes Olympique Paris Saint-Germain AS Saint-Étienne FC Sochaux-Montbéliard RC Strasbourg Sporting Toulon Var Toulouse FC US Valenciennes Anzin
League table
Promoted from 1992–93 French Division 2, who will play in 1993–94 French Division 1 FC Martigues: Champions of Division 2, winner of Division 2 group A Angers SCO: Runners-up, winners of Division 2 group B AS Cannes: Winners of playoffs against Valenciennes
Results
Relegation play-offs
Top goalscorers Rank Player Club GoalsDivision 1 - Saison 1992-1993 - Classement des buteurs deux-zero.com1 Alen BokšićMarseille232 Xavier GravelaineCaen203 Jürgen KlinsmannMonaco194 Rudi VöllerMarseille185 Joël TiéhiLe Havre14 George WeahParis Saint-Germain7 Nicolas OuédecNantes13 Bernard FerrerToulouse9 Franck SauzéeMarseille12 Youri DjorkaeffMonaco Franck LeboeufStrasbourg
Attendances
# Club Average 1 Marseille 27,010 2 PSG 26,704 3 Girondins 21,864 4 Strasbourg 21,773 5 Nantes 20,216 6 Saint-Étienne 19,943 7 Lens 17,224 8 Olympique lyonnais 16,678 9 Valenciennes 11,846 10 MHSC 9,917 11 Metz 9,581 12 AJA 9,421 13 Toulouse 9,173 14 Nîmes 8,788 15 Caen 7,767 16 Le Havre 7,130 17 LOSC 6,326 18 Monaco 6,263 19 Toulon 4,212 20 Sochaux 3,691Source:
References