Olympique de Marseille president Pablo Longoria has provided a detailed account of the events leading to the sidelining of players Adrien Rabiot and Jonathan Rowe. The decision came after a significant post-match confrontation between the two in Rennes last Friday. Longoria described the incident as “an event of a gravity and violence that is extreme, something unheard of.”
The altercation, which began in the dressing room following OM’s 1-0 defeat at Roazhon Park, quickly escalated into what Longoria termed “a fight without limits.” As a direct consequence of their actions, both players were immediately excluded from team training on Monday. The club confirmed their placement on the transfer list the following day, citing their “unacceptable behaviour in the dressing room” as the rationale for this severe measure.
Longoria explained the necessity of the club`s firm response: “We had to take a decision after an event that went beyond the acceptable limits in a football club, as in any organisation.” He underscored the unprecedented nature of the incident, noting the collective experience of the club’s senior figures: “Roberto De Zerbi has been coaching for 13 years, Mehdi Benatia has been in top-level football since he was 22, and I have worked in professional football for 20 years. We have enough experience between us to say we had never seen something like this in a dressing room.” The president affirmed that this decision was crucial for the protection of the institution and the integrity of the current season.
When questioned about the potential impact of losing Rabiot, a key performer from the previous season, Longoria expressed his regret but emphasized the lack of alternative options. “Do you think that I, as president of Olympique de Marseille, am happy to arrive at this type of situation with one of last season’s most important players, someone I presented as an example? Honestly, as a club, we are victims of the situation. We are enduring it,” he stated, highlighting the club’s position as a reluctant participant in these unfortunate events.
The aftermath of this incident strongly indicates that both Rabiot and Rowe are likely to depart from Marseille before the current transfer window concludes. Longoria reinforced the club`s stance, confirming their intention to move forward without the pair after what he definitively called “something completely unheard of in football.”