Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi unleashed a scathing critique of French football after his team suffered a humiliating 3-0 defeat to Auxerre in Ligue 1 on Saturday, vowing never to coach in France again following what he described as "scandalous" refereeing.
The Italian manager's frustration boiled over after watching his side concede twice to Brazilian defender Jubal and once to Gaetan Perrin, while also having to deal with defender Derek Cornelius's dismissal for a second yellow card. The loss left Marseille trailing league leaders Paris Saint-Germain by 10 points.
"I'm Italian, and after OM I'm not going to coach in France again," De Zerbi declared in his post-match press conference. "There's a problem in the French championship, if French people are happy with this level of decision-making, then good for them. But today it was scandalous. The referee was not in [the right state of mind to officiate] this match because of all the controversy surrounding him."
The controversy deepened as Marseille president Pablo Longoria joined the criticism, making explosive allegations about the integrity of the competition. "Everything has been organised. It's planned, it's rigged," Longoria told La Provence. "There's a penalty on Merlin, four European referees have told me so by message, and the most scandalous thing is the red card to Cornelius. This is a sh***y championship. If the Super League comes to see us, we'll go right away."
The tension between Marseille and the match officials had been brewing even before kickoff. The club had formally complained about the appointment of referee Jeremy Stinat, who was previously involved in a incident that led to Marseille's director of football, Medhi Benatia, receiving a three-month suspension following their Coupe de France elimination last month.
Marseille will look to regroup from this controversial defeat when they host Nantes in their next Ligue 1 fixture next Sunday, though the fallout from this match threatens to overshadow their preparation for that encounter.
