OM feels persecuted at the start of the season. And it’s not going to get better. While suspensions rain down on the Marseille club, a new episode echoes the recent summons – and suspension – of sports advisor Medhi Benatia, guilty of having severely reprimanded Mr. Bastien during the last Olympico and thus deprived of all official functions for six matches, three of which were closed.
For the same reasons – a sharp criticism of the refereeing at half-time of the last championship match to date, OM-Angers (1-1) – the sports coordinator Aziz Mady Mogne was in turn summoned by the Commission of discipline of the Professional Football League (LFP). The person concerned would have lost his nerve, castigating the decisions of Mr. Lissorgue and his assessors regarding the expulsion of Neal Maupay in particular.
“The arbitration is inconsistent,” says Pablo Longoria
In the eyes of Pablo Longoria, interviewed on the question of arbitration and disciplinary bodies in French football, these are abusive and disproportionate recourses – proof that OM is in the crosshairs of the institutions. “ There has been a high level of confusion in French refereeing since December 2023, more or less, when there were upheavals at its head. Huge confusion. There has been a change in dynamics », Judges the boss of the Olympians in the pages of L’Equipe.
“ The errors still existed, but things were much clearer. Now I see a lot of illogical decisions, misunderstandings, things said publicly but not done in private. For me, the refereeing is inconsistent, every weekend, not only for OMadds the Spanish leader. I don’t want favorable decisions, but respect and consistency. As a club, I cannot accept not having one. I’ve taken a lot of steps toward the other side since becoming president. I wait for the other party to do the same. In the dialogue. »
