Overview
- RMC and Courbis’s family confirmed his death on January 12, with RMC director-general Karim Nedjari stating on air that he died at about 5:00 a.m.
- As a defender he won three French league titles—one with Marseille in 1972 and two with Monaco in 1978 and 1982—before managing roughly 18 teams in a long, itinerant career.
- His coaching peak came with Marseille in 1999, reaching the UEFA Cup final and finishing runner-up in Ligue 1, and he later guided Montpellier back to the top flight in 2009.
- From 2005 onward he became a prominent RMC consultant known for a forthright style, memorable turns of phrase and a distinctive Marseille accent.
- Tributes arrived from clubs and figures including Didier Deschamps, while no official cause of death was given; one media report cited a pulmonary infection, a claim that remains unconfirmed.