Marseille threaten to quit 'rigged' Ligue 1 as Roberto De Zerbi fumes at 'scandal'

Marseille have threatened to quit Ligue 1 and join the European Super League following their defeat to Auxerre on Saturday, with club president Pablo Longoria claiming the league is "rigged".

Maresille were beaten 3-0 by Auxerre, with two of the goals coming after defender Derek Cornelius was sent off by referee Jeremy Stinat. The result leaves Marseille 13 points behind league leaders Paris Saint-Germain after they won their game in hand against Lyon on Sunday.

However, Marseille were left fuming by Cornelius' red card, with manager Roberto De Zerbi vowing never to work in France again due to the "scandalous" refereeing. "I'm Italian, and after OM I'm not going to coach in France again," he said.

"There's a problem in the French championship, if French people are happy with this level of decision making, then good for them. But today it was scandalous. The referee was not in [the right state of mind to officiate] this match because of all the controversy surrounding him."

Earlier this year, Marseille's director of football Mehdi Benatia received a three-month suspension due to his behaviour in Marseille's Coupe de France defeat against Lille. Benatia was sent off by Clement Turpin after criticising fourth official Stinat after Marseille were not awarded a penalty.

Marzeille had voiced concerns about Stinat's appointment for their clash with Auxerre as a result. After the game, club president Longoria was quoted as saying by La Provence : "Everything has been organised. It's planned, it's rigged.

"There's a penalty on Merlin, four European referees have told me so by message, and the most scandalous thing is the red card to Cornelius. This is a sh***y championship, if the Super League comes to see us, we'll go right away."

France's referee's union, SAFE, have hit back at Longoria and threatened legal action. In a statement they said: "Lawsuits will be filed for defamation. And against all those behind the hate messages and death threats received since last night. French referees are not corrupt.

"Losing a game can't justify questioning the integrity of French referees. To suggest there's a system of organised corruption is not only defamatory for the referees in the professional leagues; it's proof of ignorance of their work and their commitment to serving football and it is to throw to the wolves all the referees officiating at professional, but also amateur, levels with the consequences that this can bring."

According to the Athletic, Marseille have attempted to clarify Longoria's comments and insist the Spaniard had only meant to use the word "corruption"' and was just 'being provocative' when he brought up the Super League.

Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.