New revelations from OM on the expulsion of Medhi Benatia

Since last night, tension has been at its maximum between Olympique de Marseille and Lille. The two teams faced each other in the 1/16 final of the Coupe de France and after a 1-1 at the end of the match, the penalty shootout saw the Mastiffs win 4-3. Before this fateful session, the Marseille Football director, Medhi Benatia, was notably expelled following a confrontation with the 4th referee. Just before, it was Lille president Olivier Létang who protested for too long additional time during which Luis Henrique equalized. However, the northern leader was not sanctioned for his vehemence. “Explain to me why the president of Lille comes on the pitch to talk to the referee? This is the second time, he has already done it in the championship. If he's the President of the Republic, I can understand it, but he's a club president. I've never seen Pablo Longoria do that. If no one tells him, I don't mind doing it», declared Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi after the match.

The rest after this ad

«I didn't speak to him, didn't speak to him. Let him do his job as a coach and everything will be fine. I haven't spoken to him so I can't tell you anything», for his part relaunched Olivier Létang. While the burst of intermediary exchanges continues between the leaders of the two clubs, Olympique de Marseille has issued a press release accompanied by a video. “Anxious to provide the greatest transparency on the moments following Luis Henrique's equalizing goal last night, and leading to the exclusion of its Director of Football, Medhi Benatia, Olympique de Marseille has decided to broadcast the sequence . Our game, our sport, our club, our supporters, our city deserve fair and consistent treatment“, we can read there. On the video, we can clearly see that Medhi Benatia's words are consistent and that he asked the 4th referee to warn the main referee Clément Turpin of a foul in the non-whistleed area on Jonathan Rowe who previously unfolded and that his behavior was not necessarily more virulent than that of Olivier Létang. Moreover, the latter admitted to RMC Sports not understand this red card addressed to Medhi Benatia: “Medhi does not deserve this red card.»