Marseille president Pablo Longoria ‘regrets’ corruption claim | OneFootball

The Olympique de Marseille president Pablo Longoria has admitted that there is “No corruption in Ligue 1” following his Saturday night outburst.

The president had reacted strongly after Derek Cornelius was sent off during the 3-0 defeat away to AJ Auxerre. Marseille were reduced to ten men when the Canadian centre-back picked up a second yellow during the second half.

According to a report from La Provence, Longoria ‘flew into a rage’ during the post-match stating in front of a dozen journalists: “This is corruption! I’ve never seen anything like it. You can write it down: Pablo Longoria says it’s corruption.”

The president continued, “Everything has been organised since the third yellow given to Balerdi [suspended for the match against Auxerre]. It’s planned, it’s rigged. There’s a penalty for Merlin, four European referees have told me so by message, and the most scandalous thing is the red card to Cornelius.”

Longoria’s comments were condemned by the president of the French FA as well as the French refereeing union. At the same time, Ligue 1 referees indicated that they were taking the matter to court as early as today: “The word corruption has been used. A red line has been crossed, it is unacceptable.”

Speaking to AFP, Longoria looked to backtrack from his earlier statements and rejected his use of the word corrupt, “The form was not appropriate and I regret using this word… I am very self-critical. I cannot accept giving this type of image A club president cannot behave like that. Nothing justifies that and I am not happy with myself.”

He looked to explain his reaction and explained that he still wants to see improvements from referees, “There are still things that are not clear and that need to be improved, yes. And that’s what really annoys me. We need to improve a lot of things to avoid confusion, for everyone.”

He concluded, “Even if nothing justifies [the reaction], you have to understand how you get to this anger. My first responsibility is to defend my club. There have been a lot of refereeing decisions this season where I consider that OM have been disadvantaged.”

GFFN | Nick Hartland