THE SIDELINES : Soccer Star May Leave Italian Club

MILAN, Italy — French industrialist Bernard Tapie, the president of Olympique Marseille, was quoted as saying today that Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona is ready to break his contract with Napoli and transfer to the French club.

“A group of financiers is ready to give Maradona $35 million so that he can settle problems related to his breach of contract with Napoli and play with another club by mid-October,” Tapie was quoted as saying in Milan’s sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport. The newspaper said Tapie made his remarks on his yacht, which was cruising in the Mediterranean.