The president of Olympique de Marseille regrets “the great confusion” that reigns, according to him, in the arbitration decisions.
Pablo Longoria, the president of Olympique de Marseille, deplored Wednesday “great confusion” in arbitration in Ligue 1, which he judges “totally different from one match to another”and asked “more consistency”. “Refereeing is a complicated issue. It’s one of the most difficult jobs in football and one that must be respected. I’m not going to complain about this or that situation, but I saw a lot of things that I found surprising, in our matches and in others.declared the Marseille president in the preamble.
“But it’s something we have to put on the table. There is great confusion. In the European Cup, you perfectly understand the refereeing you will have. But in this championship, I don’t understand how we are refereed. I don’t understand the trend, the refereeing is totally different from one match to another.added Longoria. “I’m not talking about a good or bad decision. I’m talking about consistency from match to match, as with the use of VAR, which changes from match to match. We need more consistency”asked the Marseille president again.
“What I condemn is the lack of equal decisions”
“Right now, I don’t understand anything. What I condemn is the lack of equal decisions. Even a year and a half ago, I believe there was consistency”added Longoria. Since the start of the season, five red cards have already been distributed to Marseille players. Several decisions were contested by Marseille leaders, several of whom (Longoria, his sports advisor Medhi Benatia, coordinator Aziz Mady Mogne) were sanctioned by the disciplinary committee.
“All our leaders were sanctioned, me first. It was after the match against Angers and I’ll tell you what I said. I said: “You don’t have the level, you are under too much pressure, my friend”. That’s all. I heard other managers talk about shame or say that the referee had the jersey of one of the teams, but we are the only ones sanctioned. I don’t accept this lack of consistency either”Longoria said.
