According to L’Équipe, the Olympique de Marseille president, Pablo Longoria, has cut an increasingly isolated figure in the club hierarchy, following the ill-fated meeting with supporters last September.
On the 18th of September, Longoria alongside Javier Ribalta, Stéphane Tissier, and Pedro Iriondo met with representatives of the various supporter groups in what was described as an “extremely tense” atmosphere.
The club executives were confronted with alleged threats and told to resign from their positions. Those present were said to have been shocked by the meeting, and it left Longoria questioning his future at the club.
Pablo Longoria returns to the club
The president after a short period of reflection remained at the club, in part because of his desire “to do everything possible to ensure that the club achieves its end-of-season and long-term objectives.” However, it was also said to be influenced by Marseille owner, Frank McCourt’s, insistence that Longoria did not leave during the middle of the season.
However, despite remaining in the role, Longoria finds himself without the close network of colleagues that he had previously come to rely on. Ribalta, the then-sporting director, never returned to work following the meeting, while Iriondo the director of strategy and development formally resigned in January.
Of those who were close to the president, only Marc Otero remains, as director of the training centre which suggests that a new era has already begun to take shape in Marseille.
GFFN | Nick Hartland
