Marseille president Pablo Longoria said the club had no choice but to transfer list Adrien Rabiot and Jonathan Rowe after what he described as an “extremely violent” altercation between the two players.
The French club released a statement Tuesday saying both players were available for transfer “due to unacceptable behaviour in the dressing room after the match against Stade Rennais FC, in agreement with the technical staff and in accordance with the club’s internal code of conduct.”
Longoria added more details Wednesday.
“What happened was extremely serious and extremely violent, something I’ve never encountered before,” he told AFP in an interview. “We had to take a decision because what happened went way beyond what is acceptable in a football club, as it would be in any organisation.”
Sources told ESPN that tempers boiled over in the dressing room after the loss to Rennes, in which Marseille played with 11 men against 10 for an hour.
Rabiot accused Rowe of a lack of commitment, according to sources, and they insulted each other in front of the whole squad before getting physical with each other.
“I wasn’t in the dressing room but the staff who were told me it was incredible, violent, aggressive and went beyond any limits,” Longoria added.
France international midfielder Rabiot, 30, and England under-21 international winger Rowe, 22, were expelled from the first-team squad by head coach Roberto De Zerbi on Monday, ESPN reported.
“I think we all have enough experience to say we have never seen anything like it in a dressing room … Even in the worst punch-ups there are rules,” Longoria said. “Not in this case.”
Rabiot, who has one year left on his contract, has attracted interest from former club Juventus and Inter Milan while Premier League sides are also monitoring the situation, sources have told ESPN. Rowe, who left Norwich for the south of France a year ago, also has options in England, with Sunderland and Leeds United.
Information from ESPN’s Julien Laurens was used in this report.
