After five days without a defeat in Ligue 1 and an elimination in the qualifying phase of the Champions League, coach Marcelino García Toral and his team have broken off their collaboration with Olympique de Marseille. A statement from the club warns that the events of last Monday, with the meeting between Ultra leaders and the management of the company, do not allow the Asturian coach and his staff to carry out the role for which they were hired “in good conditions” to exercise. “Due to this regrettable situation, Marcelino and his staff will not continue their mission at Olympique de Marseille,” concludes the letter published by the club, which states that the departure was for “non-sporting reasons.”
Official communiqué from the Olympique de Marseille
— Olympique de Marseille (@OM_Officiel) September 20, 2023
The Spanish coaching staff is the first to leave after episodes of extreme threats. The position of the leadership led by Pablo Fernández Longoria is precarious, even if the movements of fans far from radicalism have begun on social networks, with the demand for the resignation of the ultra leader Rachid Zeroual, who died this afternoon Calling for his resignation on Wednesday to draw attention to himself, more than 37,000 endorsements have already been collected.
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Meanwhile, the team traveled to Amsterdam this Wednesday, where the first game of the Europa League group stage against Ajax awaits us this Thursday. Pancho Abardadonado will be on the bench, a former club player who worked in the youth football categories before joining the first team coaching staff during Jorge Sampaoli’s time.
Neither Longoria nor her employees plan to travel to Amsterdam to consider next steps after initial consultations with the owner, American Frank McCourt. “There was a risk of war against the directors if they did not submit their resignations,” the club said in a statement, stressing that it would not accept personal threats or slander. “A relationship based on intimidation cannot guarantee the minimum acceptable conditions for the club’s board to deepen the transformation of OM,” they warn.
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