Marseille/Pablo Longoria: "We had never seen anything like this in football"

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·21 Agustus 2025

Marseille/Pablo Longoria: "We had never seen anything like this in football"

The atmosphere in Marseille is tense. Adrien Rabiot and Jonathan Rowe are set to leave the club following a major altercation in the dressing room right after the defeat against Rennes. The OM president has opened up about the issue.

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According to several media outlets, Bologna is closing in on signing Rowe, while Rabiot has attracted interest from top European clubs such as AC Milan, Juventus, Inter, and Galatasaray. OM president Pablo Longoria told AFP that the situation had become untenable:

What happened was extremely serious and violent—something I had never witnessed before. We had to make a decision, because this went far beyond what is acceptable in a football club.

🔵⚪️ | Pablo Longoria : « Je n’étais pas dans le vestiaire. Mais ce que je peux dire, c’est que tout ce que m’a transmis le staff, sportif et non-sportif, c’est que c’était quelque chose d’inouï, de violent, de très agressif et qui a dépassé toutes les limites» Roberto De Zerbi
– Rabu, 20 Agustus 2025

Longoria underlines the gravity of the incident, as confirmed by staff present in the dressing room:

It was unbelievable, violent, aggressive, and beyond all limits. Even in the worst fights, there are rules. Here, there were none.

The president clarified that putting Rabiot on the transfer market has nothing to do with his contract situation, but is solely about protecting the institution:

The decision is clear: it protects the club and our season. It’s non-negotiable. Honestly, we are the victims in this case. I have never heard of such an incident in the world of football.

🔴 « 𝗖'𝗘́𝗧𝗔𝗜𝗧 𝗨𝗡 𝗘́𝗩𝗘́𝗡𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗗'𝗨𝗡𝗘 𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗩𝗜𝗧𝗘́ 𝗘𝗧 𝗗'𝗨𝗡𝗘 𝗩𝗜𝗢𝗟𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗘𝗫𝗧𝗥𝗘̂𝗠𝗘, 𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗟𝗤𝗨𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗢𝗦𝗘 𝗗'𝗜𝗡𝗢𝗨𝗜̈ » 🤯 Pablo Longoria 🇪🇸 𝗦𝗢𝗥𝗧 𝗗𝗨 𝗦𝗜𝗟𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 sur l'affaire Rabiot. « 𝗢𝗻 𝗮 𝗱𝘂̂ 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗲
– Rabu, 20 Agustus 2025