MARSEILLE, France -- Marseille employees have approved an offer from American businessman Frank McCourt to buy the French club from Russian-born billionaire Margarita Louis-Dreyfus.
Marseille workers' committee said in a statement on Tuesday it approved McCourt's project "unanimously," paving the way for the completion of the sale by the end of the year.
McCourt, the 63-year-old former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, has pledged to build a team that will be able to challenge Paris Saint-Germain.
Marseille, the only French team to win the Champions League back in 1993, have won the French title nine times but have fallen behind since PSG were taken over by Qatari investors five years ago.
Louis-Dreyfus took over Marseille in 2009, succeeding her husband, Robert Louis-Dreyfus, after he died from leukemia.