Marseille President Pablo Longoria Receives 15-Match Ban Following ‘Corruption’ Outburst

Pablo Longoria, the president of French football powerhouse Marseille, received a 15-match ban on Wednesday for asserting that his club had fallen victim to “corruption”.

Fabrizio Ravanelli, the former Italian striker for Marseille who currently serves in an advisory capacity, was given a three-match suspension for describing the officiating decisions during last weekend’s 3-0 defeat to Auxerre as “scandalous”.

“The commission took into account offensive comments and actions that constitute a violation of the ethics charter and detrimental to the image of football,” stated Sebastien Deneux, the head of the disciplinary committee of France’s Professional Football League (LFP).

The LFP confirmed that Longoria is suspended “from all official duties and granted no access to players’ or officials’ dressing rooms, the pitch, or any corridors leading to those areas.”

In a statement, Longoria expressed regret over his use of the term “corruption”, acknowledging that it “wasn’t the right choice of word”.

Marseille, sitting second in Ligue 1, found themselves 1-0 down against Auxerre on Saturday when a penalty appeal was turned down by referee Jeremy Stinat just before the break.

Things took a turn for the worse for the visitors when Canadian defender Derek Cornelius received a second yellow card shortly after the hour mark, leading to a further two goals conceded late in the game, resulting in a disappointing loss for the team.