Marseille director of football Medhi Benatia: ‘Players questioning rules since Champions League qualification’ | OneFootball

In the aftermath of Adrien Rabiot’s altercation with Jonathan Rowe following Marseille’s defeat to Rennes, Marseille director of football Medhi Benatia has expressed frustration at the behaviour of the squad since pre-season.

Speaking to RMC Sport, Benatia revealed that the club’s staff had been battling with issues of punctuality, professionalism, and unpaid fines since the return to training in July. “Here there is so much passion and love that maybe some players thought they could arrive a bit late, do this, do that. We’ve fought against that from the beginning,” he explained.

Marseille’s leadership, including Pablo Longoria and Roberto De Zerbi, called a squad meeting on the 5th August to address what Benatia described as a growing lack of discipline. However, the message was not heeded by all. “When we demanded that all these fines be paid to the captain, Balerdi, before leaving for Rennes, it wasn’t done either,” Benatia revealed.

The former Juventus defender pointed to a culture of questioning the club’s internal rules – from daily medical checks to travel logistics – which has unsettled the environment despite a positive summer transfer window and Champions League qualification.

“Because we qualified for the Champions League, suddenly everything is up for debate – the meetings, the trips, the medical checks. We told them: ‘Guys, what we’re doing is for your own good.’”

The breakdown culminated in Friday’s heated incident between Rabiot and Rowe, which Benatia said left the club with no choice but to act firmly. “You arrive at Rennes, the first game of the season, everything was in place, and then you have this kind of fight. We decided to take strong sanctions – but when you have this type of behaviour, you cannot let it go.”GFFN | George Boxall