Marseille have found themselves in the centre of a storm in Ligue 1 against both the French top-flight’s referee’s and the French Football Federation (FFF).
In an extraordinary rant in the wake of his side’s defeat by Auxerre on Saturday, Marseille president Pablo Longoria furiously accused France’s referees of corruption.
With Derrick Cornelius sent off, Longoria could be heard shouting ‘corruption, real corruption’ in the corridors of the Auxerre ground, twenty minutes after the final whistle.
Additionally, he claimed that ‘everything was planned, organised, since Balerdi’s yellow card against Angers [earlier in February]’ , one of the three warnings that led to the suspension of the Marseille captain on Saturday evening.
According to reports, Longoria then told journalists: ‘You can say it!’
This is not the first time that Marseille officials have questioned refereeing decisions this season but Longoria’s explosive words mark a new step from the club.
Marseille president Pablo Longoria launched an extraordinary attack on French referees
FFF president Philippe Diallo has condemned the words from Marseille president Longoria
Jeremy Stinat was in charge for the game in question, and Diallo offered the referee his support
Longoria was deeply frustrated after Marseille’s fifth league loss, leaving them 10 points behind runaway leaders PSG, and launched an attack on the officials claiming his side was the victim of a plot.
‘I condemn in the strongest possible terms the remarks made by the president and officials of Olympique de Marseille against French refereeing in general and the referee of yesterday’s match, Jeremy Stinat, in particular, to whom I offer my full support,’ said FFF president Philippe Diallo.
‘Calling into question the integrity of our referees is defamatory, unacceptable and reprehensible,’ he added. ‘Such comments seriously damage the image of our league.’
The referee’s union, SAFE, was infuriated by Longoria’s comments and announced they would ask the federation’s ethics committee to look into the matter, and take legal action.
‘Lawsuits will be filed for defamation. And against all those behind the hate messages and death threats received since last night,’ the union said.
The federation’s ethics body said it will refer the matter to the French league’s discipline committee adding that it had already issued a warning to Longoria last month for remarks ‘likely to discredit refereeing’ during a match against Strasbourg.
The committee said Longoria ‘took no notice of this and, on the contrary, went one step further in his outrageousness.’
Earlier this year, Marseille director of football Mehdi Benatia was suspended for three months for his attitude toward Stinat during a French Cup loss against Lille when the referee served as the fourth official.
Marseille’s director of football was suspended for three months earlier this year for his attitude towards referee Stinat
The referee’s union SAFE has asked the FFF’s ethics committee to look into Longoria’s claims
Although he admitted Marseille did not play well and Auxerre deserved to win, Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi said that Cornelius’ sending off was ‘scandalous.’
‘The referee was not serene during the match,’ De Zerbi said. ‘Perhaps past controversies influenced his decisions during the match.
‘None of the referees were up to scratch for a game of this level. I hope Cornelius’ red card won’t be seen outside France because it gives a bad image of French soccer.’
Former Marseille player Fabrizio Ravanelli, now acting as the club’s advisor, was also left fuming by the result and accused the game’s referee of ‘not knowing what he was doing.’
Ravanelli also spoke out against previous refereeing decisions against Marseille captain Leonardo Balerdi, who was suspended for the game against Auxerre.