Pablo Longoria assures that he has not resigned from the presidency of OM, but believes that “the limits have been exceeded”

Pablo Longoria, retired from the presidency of Olympique de Marseille (OM), assured, Thursday, September 21, in the daily La Provence, that he had not resigned, but judged that “the limits [had] been exceeded” during a very tense meeting on Monday with representatives of the supporters’ groups.

“What happened on Monday is unacceptable. (…) What happened is the consequence of things that have been happening for a long time,” said the Spanish leader in a long interview, during which he also assured that he was “naturally” still the president of the club of Ligue 1 football and that he had not offered his resignation to the owner, Frank McCourt.

In the hours following Monday’s meeting, the entire OM management took a step back and none of the club’s main leaders are present in Amsterdam, where the Provençal club will face Ajax in the Europa League on Thursday, and Paris Saint-Germain, in Ligue 1. Coach Marcelino, a close friend of Longoria, has left the club.

“I wasn’t scared, but I was shocked.”

“I was able to speak for two minutes, then I was cut off and it got out of hand very quickly… We were told: “All four of us resign [Longoria, the football director; Javier Ribalta, the general director, Pedro Iriondo; and the financial director, Stéphane Tessier], otherwise it’s war,” Longoria reported. “In 2023, a manager of any club cannot endure these threats. I don’t accept them. I wasn’t scared, but I was shocked. I consider this not normal,” he added.

The president of OM also dismissed any accusation of “cronyism” and financial embezzlement. “To protect myself, I had to ask the McCourt group [owner of the club] to audit all our operations by an independent firm, to demonstrate that we were transparent. I gave away all my bank accounts, my phones, my emails, everything… It turned out we were clean! “, he explained.

“I represent an institution. I have a mandate given by the owner and the supervisory board. I have to take responsibility,” he also said. But it is “impossible to work with the current status quo” and it is necessary that “all those who love the club move in a direction that makes it become a football club, which, while keeping its DNA, can operate with a minimum of normality.”

The crisis was accelerated by the pressure put on the next day by those responsible for OM supporters associations. On Monday, the ultra leaders met the Marseille staff at the Commanderie training center. In the general opinion of the participants, the interview was stormy, and the management of the president, Pablo Longoria, clearly indicted. The manager of the South Winners and controversial figure at Stade-Vélodrome, Rachid Zeroual, requested the resignation of the four main leaders present. According to RMC, it was upon learning of the brutality of this meeting that the coach, Marcelino, would have mentioned his possible departure in front of his players.

Contacted by Le Monde, the South Winners deny having threatened the Marseille leaders with death. A version confirmed by several other leaders of the groups present on site. But by demanding the departure of the president, Pablo Longoria, and his main collaborators, the representatives of the Marseille ultra groups know that they are carrying the weight of a possible violent reaction.

In 2021, the anger of supporters took away Jacques-Henri Eyraud, Longoria’s predecessor. But the context today is completely different, Longoria retaining a good popularity rating with a large part of Marseille supporters.