The president of Marseille, the Spaniard Pablo Longoriaand three other club executives (Javier Ribalta, director of football; Stephane TessierCFO, and Pedro Iriondodirector of the training center), will temporarily step down from management, while they weigh whether to continue leading the entity, which is plunged into an institutional crisis due to the pressure of the club’s ultras on Longoria himself and the coach Marcelino Garcia Toral, who will inform the squad of his decision to resign from his position after only seven official matches coached.
He Marseilles the decision was announced in a statement released late on Tuesday following a stormy day at the club after a tense management meeting on Monday night with representatives of ultras groups, who were deeply unhappy with the team sports development. . In his official note, The OM explained that “individual attacks or any form of unfounded public defamation cannot be tolerated” against members of the French club’s management.
“A relationship based on intimidation cannot guarantee minimum acceptable conditions for Executive board of the club can continue to invest in the transformation of OM”, concluded the statement. Members of management will not travel to Amsterdam this Thursday for the first game of the European League of OM against Ajax.
In addition to the disappointing start to the season (two wins and three draws in Ligue 1 and the elimination in the Champions League preview against the Greek Panathinaikoswith the result of access to the Europa League), fans blame Longoria for favoring his friends (such as hiring a coach Marcelino Garcia Toral) and banishing youth from the quarry in favor of outside players.
On Tuesday morning, it was reported that the Asturian coach had informed the players of his resignation, and that he would replace him temporarily. Jean-Pierre Papina former glory of OM and Ballon d’Or in 1991, although none of this has been officially confirmed.
According to French media, the president spoke on the phone on Tuesday with the owner of the club, the American investor. Frank McCourtwho bought the entity in 2016, to inform him of his intentions.
It was published in France that the trigger for Longoria thinking about resigning was ultra threat against him and other directors, as seen in the OM statement, though the names of the club’s leadership are not mentioned.
This new institutional earthquake is reminiscent of January 2021, when, after a streak of four consecutive defeats, a group of radicals attacked the Commanderie training center to terrorize the playerssome of them were attacked, an episode that led to the departure of the then president, Jacques-Henri Eyraudand the arrival of Longoria.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
