After 0: 3 against Auxerre
© Imago
After the 0: 3 by Olympique Marseille near Auxerre on Saturday, club president Pablo Longoria let his emotions run free. “This is corruption. I’ve never seen anything like this, ”said the 38-year-old and criticized referee Jérémy Stinat. The French league association LFP then imposed a lock of 15 games against Longoria.
In the eyes of Longoria, the referee should have decided on a penalty after a supposed foul on Quentin Merlin. He also found the yellow-red card against Derek Cornelius too hard. “Everything is organized. It is planned, it is manipulated. It’s a championship. If OM has a suggestion for the Super League, we will go straight away, ”added OM President. Eleven game days before the end of the season, the gap to leader Paris Saint-Germain grew to 13 points.
On Monday, Longoria revised his emotional outbreak towards the AFP: “Everyone explained to me what the word corruption in French means, because it is of broader importance in Spanish. But I have never thought about something like change of money or financial transactions in my life, I would never affect that. I want to say that there is no corruption in French football. ” The lock was nevertheless pronounced and the French referee union Safe also initiated legal steps against him.
However, the sanctions do not have a major impact, because Longoria is sitting on the presidential grandstand when playing Marseille. He loses access to the interior and must not visit the team in the cabin. Another consequence: On Thursday, the board meeting of the French league and Longoria is not allowed to participate despite its member status.