Marcel Desailly says he is ruined and unable to pay the alimony requested for his 10-year-old daughter, whom he had refused to recognize.

Marcel Desailly, former footballer and 1998 world champion with the Blues, is the father of a 10-year-old child, Victoria, whom he refuses to recognize as his daughter. A DNA test ordered by the courts confirmed his paternity. Today, he says he is ruined and unable to pay the requested alimony. He is the subject of a tax adjustment.

As revealed by Le Parisien, an expert report has confirmed that Marcel Desailly is indeed the father of Victoria, a 10-year-old girl whom he had previously refused to recognize.

A hearing will be held this Tuesday, December 10, at the Paris judicial court. The court will have to validate the expert report, but also examine the requests of Cosma Batista de Alcantara, Victoria's mother, who is claiming alimony of 5,000 euros per month. An amount that the former defender of OM, AC Milan and Chelsea considers impossible to pay, claiming to be almost ruined.

According to several financial documents, Marcel Desailly indicated a monthly income of around 8,600 euros until 2022, mainly thanks to his role as a consultant for BeIN Sports. This channel also paid him a bonus of 42,650 euros for his role as ambassador for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. But, his contract with BeIN ended on August 31, 2024.

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An uncertain future

Since then, his professional future has been considered uncertain by his lawyer, Françoise Majnoni d’Intignano, who specifies that he has no prospect of a new contract, especially since the arrival of the members of the 2018 French team as consultants could put an end to his activity.

Marcel Desailly also states that he cannot count on his companies to bail him out, as they do not pay him any remuneration, whether in France or in Ghana, where he currently lives. It is based on a certificate from the managing director of Marcel Desailly Investment Limited, located in Ghana, stating that he has received “neither salary nor dividends” since 2009.

Marcel Desailly's lawyer, quoted by our colleagues at Parisien, insists on the fact that he is not “a wealthy businessman” as Cosma Batista de Alcantara suggests. In reality, the ex-footballer has high expenses, including 5,000 euros per month to repay a tax adjustment of 257,000 euros, dating from September 2022, concerning income tax for the years 2011 to 2019. This adjustment was initiated after a tax audit conducted by the National Division of Tax Audits (DNVSF), the entity responsible for monitoring large estates and companies.

A first tax investigation took place in 2014, following which France asked Switzerland to obtain information on assets placed with UBS bank. This time, in addition to income tax, this audit could concern the sale in 2018 of a private mansion in Nantes, which he had owned with his ex-wife Virginie. The property, acquired in 2009 for 1.9 million euros, had been sold for 3.75 million euros after their divorce.

To guarantee the reimbursement of his tax adjustment, a company, the Club des six, stood surety. This company belongs to Desailly, who mortgaged a building in Nantes worth 435,400 euros.

Alimony for seven other children

Alimony for seven children Marcel Desailly was forced to sell some of his assets to settle the alimony payments for his four legitimate children, as well as for Aïda, born in 1990 and whom he had not wanted to recognize. However, he refused to specify the amount.