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.
On Monday, Longoria reined in his fury.
"I would like to say that there is no corruption in French football," he told AFP.
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