Makelele signs for Bastia amid tax inquiry

Bastia: Former Chelsea and Real Madrid star Claude Makelele on Tuesday signed a two-year deal to coach Ligue 1 side Bastia as a tax fraud investigation against him gathered pace.

Swiss authorities have agreed to a French request to help with an inquiry into Makelele`s assets. Makelele, 41, will take up his first full managerial post with the Corsican side, having been assistant coach at Paris Saint Germain since December 2011 with Carlo Ancelotti and then Laurent Blanc. "It`s an exciting challenge, a difficult one but I feel ready - I`ll be bringing all my experience and hunger for football," said Makelele, who played 71 times for France. Makelele succeeds Frederic Hantz, who in a four- year spell gained Bastia promotion to Ligue 1 and a 10th place finish last term. The Swiss government`s official bulletin released Tuesday announced an accord to help investigate Makelele`s assets held in the UBS bank in Switzerland. When the request was made in April, Swiss media said it could be linked to Makelele`s investment in the Swiss side Servette FC. Former Servette president Marc Roger, who organised the sale of a stake to Makelele in 2004, has said he owned between five and 10 percent of the club`s shares. Servette went bankrupt shortly after and Roger was sentenced to a two year suspended jail term for false accounting and fraud.