Marseille football club supremo Pablo Longoria apologised on Monday for unleashing a tirade during which he branded the officiating as corrupt after his side's 3-0 defeat at Auxerre on Saturday.
Following the setback at the Abbé-Deschamps stadium, Longoria ranted at the performance of referee Jérémy Stinat who dismissed the Marseille defender Derek Cornelius for two bookable offences. Marseille were also denied a penalty when Quentin Merlun was shoved off the ball in the Auxerre penalty area.
In his rage, Longoria fumed at what he described as scandalous and shameful decision-making.
"Let Pablo Longoria tell it like it is: this is real corruption!" added the 39-year-old Spaniard.
However, the comments brought immediate condemnation from Antony Gautier, the referees' boss at the French Football Federation (FFF) as well as the outfit's top executive Philippe Diallo.
"I would like to offer my full support to Jérémy Stinat, who was the victim of unacceptable comments made by OM's directors," said Gautier in a statement sent to the French news agency AFP.
Diallo also backed Stinat adding: "Calling into question the integrity of our referees is defamatory, unacceptable and reprehensible.
"I condemn in the strongest possible terms the comments made by the president of Olympique de Marseille against French refereeing in general and the referee of their match against Auxerre in particular."
The French referee's union, Safe, said it wanted Longoria's scandalous remarks referred to the disciplinary watchdogs.
"No, Mr Longoria, French referees are not corrupt!" added the union in a statement. "Losing a match cannot justify calling into question the probity of French referees.
"To suggest that there is an organised system of corruption is not only defamatory of referees in professional leagues: it shows a lack of understanding of their work and their commitment to football, and it is a slur on all referees, both professional and amateur, with all the consequences that this can entail."
On Monday, Longoria reined in his fury.
"I would like to say that there is no corruption in French football," he told AFP.
Form
"The form wasn't appropriate and I regret using that word."
Longoria, who took over as president at Marseille in 2021, added: "I'm very self-critical, and I can't accept this type of image. A club president can't behave like that. Nothing justifies the form and I'm not happy with myself.
"Everyone has explained to me the meaning of the word corruption in French, because in Spanish it has a broader meaning. Mind you, that doesn't justify anything. But I've never in my life thought about something like exchanging money or financial transactions, and I'd never allow myself to do that.
"I would like to say that there is no corruption in French football. That there are things that are not clear and that need to be improved, yes. And that's what annoys me enormously. We need to improve a lot of things to avoid confusion for everyone."
The loss - Marseille's fifth of the season - left them 10 points adrift of pacesetters Paris Saint-Germain who capitalised on the defeat with a 3-2 victory at Lyon on Sunday night to surge 13 points clear with 11 games remaining.
"‘Even if there's no reason for it, you have to understand how you get so angry," added Longoria. "My first responsibility is to defend my club. There have been a lot of refereeing decisions this season in which I feel Marseille have been disadvantaged."
The win allowed Auxerre to climb to 11th in Ligue 1 with 28 points afer 23 games.
Marseille remained second despite the defeat. However, Nice moved to within three points following a 2-0 success over Montpellier.
