It hurts, but we have to make a tough call": Benatia lifts the lid on the chaos in Marseille's dressing room

It stings, and it hurts. But in Marseille, we’ve never liked sugar-coated truths. Mehdi Benatia, OM’s director of football, broke his silence this Wednesday to put the right words – sharp at times – on the Rabiot-Rowe affair. Between frustration, the obligation to make a decision, and that lingering feeling that no matter what, it’s always the club that pays the price, his words land like a blunt confession, without mask or doublespeak. Because at OM, we live everything to the fullest: the joys as much as the wounds.

Medhi Benatia, thank you for speaking with us about the Adrien Rabiot–Jonathan Rowe affair. Can we have the chronology? What happened in the dressing room, or perhaps before, that justified such a strong decision announced by the club on Tuesday?

From the very beginning, our priority has been to protect the dressing room. And I think anyone who has played football, or knows the codes of football, understands how important that is. So I’m not going to change my way of thinking today. Even though, clearly, some people preferred to go to the press to explain the problems. That won’t be my case, for the simple reason that even if what happened is serious – very serious – I believe that going public and revealing what goes on inside the dressing room sends the message that we don’t have codes, that there’s no respect. We also have players to manage, and if I were a player in this team, I wouldn’t like to know that a club official was capable of running to the media with our dressing room issues. The dressing room is sacred, and that’s why we tried, with all our strength… And I think you know it well, and the other journalists know it too… During the 24–48 hours following this unfortunate episode, we tried to calm things down a little, to explain that yes, there had been excesses, yes, there had been scuffles, but that it didn’t need to become a state affair.

Because we strongly hoped that those two days off we gave the team – despite the defeat, despite everything that happened – would also allow the players involved to reflect a little on what had taken place. And maybe just simply to ask forgiveness: forgiveness from the club, from the coach, and above all, forgiveness for the image of OM and for everything we had to endure over those 48 hours. There were no apologies, neither on Saturday nor Sunday, and so we summoned both players with Pablo on Monday afternoon. Then, in a meeting with the coach, the whole squad, Pablo, and myself, we explained the sanctions we had decided to impose on those two players.

But let me repeat, and despite everything being said today, I have no intention of recounting every detail of what happened. I’ll just give you the main lines. It was a dressing room dispute, players frustrated by a game that, if you play it ten times, you win nine. Unfortunately, this time, we lost it. With a goal at the very end… We all know the kind of frustration such matches and results can generate. And it escalated to physical contact, to physical aggression. In a football dressing room – at least at Olympique de Marseille – we consider that something like that cannot happen. It was a regrettable act. But it also fits, in a way, with the continuity of the past month, where we’ve already had to issue several reminders. Because, well, we know football a bit – the president, the coach, and I – and we’ve seen certain behaviors. Over the past month, there were a lot of fines to be paid, a lot of small things piling up. You know how it is, especially in Marseille: you qualify for the Champions League and suddenly you feel like you’ve saved the club. It’s extraordinary. Yes, but then it’s over – you have to get back to work. Except here, with so much passion, so much love, maybe some players thought they could afford to show up a little late, cut corners, do this or that. And we’ve been fighting that since the beginning, since July, since preseason. And this wasn’t just about Rabiot or Rowe, not at all – I’m speaking generally.

We held a very important meeting on August 5 with the president, where we explained to all the players: “Guys, what you did was good, but now we need to turn the page, get back to being serious. The league is starting, it’s important to restore order, restore rules, etc. You players even set up a fine system among yourselves, so it’s important to respect it for the group and the dressing room. And that hasn’t been done.” And when we required that all those fines be paid to captain Balerdi before the trip to Rennes, they weren’t paid either. Then you go to Rennes, the first match of the season, in a context that was otherwise very favorable: a positive transfer window, you kept your best players, everything was fine. And you end up with this kind of fight. Because in reality, it was a fight.

So we decided to take sanctions that were certainly strong, but I think the first to be punished was us, the club. Because today, you lose two players. One young prospect, who was already being monitored on the transfer market with Paixao’s arrival. That, we’d already talked about, but this accelerated it. And then maybe you lose your best player, or at least the best player of last season. Someone I adore. I adored him, and I still do today – let that be clear – as a man, as a footballer. But when behaviors like this happen, you cannot let it slide.

Medhi, can you tell us precisely what happened in the dressing room? Because if we understand correctly, for 48 hours you preferred to buy time, let things cool down, and you didn’t confirm the physical assault despite what our sources said. In the end, it is true: there were blows. To better understand this conduct, deemed unacceptable in OM’s statement, can you tell us what happened and how far the physical altercation went?

No. As I said, Florent, I don’t intend today to reveal everything that happened in my dressing room. Because if I were a player, I would take that badly. It’s not right. What I can say is that senior players came in frustrated and began making remarks to the whole team – about the defeat, about the behavior, that we have to do more, that we’re OM and can’t allow ourselves to lose like that against a team down to 10 men for an hour, etc. Up to that point, fine, it was words. But then it started heating up, people stood up, voices were raised… You know how it goes in a dressing room. Normally two or three guys intervene to separate them. That’s what some tried to do. The coach arrived, I was there. Normally, you calm down, the coach speaks. There are still matches ahead, the season just started. But no – this turned into physical confrontations, punches. We even had a kid (Bakola) who had some kind of fainting spell and collapsed, and all of this in a dressing room… It was chaos. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve done 17–18 years in dressing rooms, I’ve argued as captain. In clubs, yes, sometimes you have heated exchanges, maybe harsh words after a defeat – it happens. People say it’s never too good to talk right after a game, better to wait until Monday morning – and it’s true. But still, it happens, tempers flare. But you can’t get to physical aggression, a punch in the mouth, security coming in to separate people. Where are we? We’re supposed to be here for football.

Medhi, people sometimes say that in a dressing room, fights between players happen. Is that true? I imagine yes. But at this level, with this degree of violence, surely not?

That happens in training – a strong tackle, one guy gets up, shoves, the other shoves back, teammates intervene, nothing more, the coach maybe sends them to the showers if he’s in a bad mood, and the next day it’s forgotten. Or the coach calms them down, training resumes – it happens. You also get a few insults in the dressing room, because someone made a comment that stung after you lost the match, and you snap back, tempers flare. Again, the coach steps in: boom, calm down, authority restored.

Usually at half-time, for example: players sit down, drink water, the coach steps out with assistants to review the first half before his talk. In those few minutes, words can fly: “You should’ve passed to me, you only play for yourself, you didn’t track your man.” That sort of thing. Tensions rise, staff come in: “Hey, cut it out, calm down.” End of story.

I’ve lived through that in dressing rooms, of course I have – 18 years in France, Germany, Qatar, Turkey, wherever. But I’ve never seen someone just go bang – a punch in the face. Never. If you want me to say that’s normal, no, it’s not. If for you that’s normal, maybe I’m in the wrong place and we’re all crazy. But for me, no – that is not normal.

Roberto De Zerbi was shocked too?

He was shocked! We were on the phone all weekend, until 3 or 4 in the morning. Shocked, but also disappointed: “Why, Medhi? Why this rage? Why this cruelty?” It wasn’t just a shove or grabbing each other’s shirt collars – no, no, no. So why did it come to this?

We had a great preseason, we were happy with what we were building. We kept all our best players, including Adrien, with whom we were discussing a three-year extension. He made it clear many times he wanted to continue. The stadium was full, the supporters were happy. So why, after the very first defeat, did it explode like this? I don’t get it.

They’d never had a problem before, never the slightest issue. I know both players very well; they were perfectly integrated. For me, it’s incomprehensible. Incomprehensible.

Do Rabiot and Rowe also pay the price for the general context of the past month, where you felt less commitment? Or is it really only linked to this fight? I mean the decision to put them on the transfer list.

I saw that reported, that there was a lack of involvement. I attend all sessions – and I’m not talking results or technical performance, that’s the coaching staff’s domain – but as far as Johnny and Adrien are concerned, they were always serious in training. Always. Always, always. They had a good preseason. In matches, one did a bit better, the other a bit less – that’s football. Some players need more time to get into shape, but nothing alarming.

But it’s true, in the past month, month and a half, there’s been… not slackness, because we don’t let anything go, but a lot of challenges to authority. Last year, we had lots of injuries, so we implemented mandatory medical checks every morning before training. Important in football. But this year, some players questioned everything. “Why the checks? Why this? Why that?” We said: Guys, this is for you. It’s for your wellbeing, not for us.

And after qualifying for the Champions League, suddenly everything was up for debate: meetings, trips, even medical checks. As if: “We did our part, now leave us alone.” No. This year, it’s even more important: last year you played 34 matches. This year, with Europe, you’ll play 45. Without proper recovery, discipline, and structure, it’s impossible.

And yet, before Rennes, we asked: pay your fines so we start clean. Seven or eight hadn’t paid. Is that normal? No, it’s not. In any job, you respect the rules. Why should footballers at OM think they can do otherwise? That’s the mistake – thinking the job is done once you qualify for the Champions League. No, that’s when it begins.

So clearly this was also a message to the whole squad, beyond the unacceptable behavior of the two players?

Of course. It’s a message to the squad, but also to the institution, to the supporters. At every level: we demand seriousness in the offices, on the pitch, in the dressing room, at the academy. This morning I spent an hour and a half watching the kids play, 12, 13, 14 years old. We ask the same from them. It’s the club’s DNA: discipline, seriousness, attitude.

Sure, sometimes there are flare-ups in training – that happens. But when something like this occurs, you have to send a message right away: Guys, we’ve lost sight of the objective. Maybe we’ll be weaker this season, maybe we won’t finish second, maybe third. Fine. But while we’re here, rigor and discipline are non-negotiable.

A crucial point then – how do you go from Adrien Rabiot, exemplary leader, someone you fought to sign and keep, to Adrien Rabiot lashing out in the dressing room? It feels totally unexpected.

Who said “enfant terrible”?

No, I won’t use that label. Neither Rabiot nor Rowe has ever caused us the slightest problem here. Adrien was more than a leader, he was our cornerstone, both on the pitch and off it. I had respect for him, and I also have affection for him. That doesn’t change.

Ask Pablo – he’ll tell you: “I’ve never seen a player like him.” His attitude was perfect. That’s why this shocked us even more. It could have happened with others, the “usual suspects” maybe, and you’d have thought: well, that’s no surprise. But with Adrien? Never.

I’ll never question his professionalism, nor the player. I won’t say something disrespectful. I know the sacrifices he made to come, the offers he turned down this summer. He saw himself staying, and we showed him our affection, our commitment, with a three-year deal among the best in the club.

But when something like this happens – even if it’s an isolated act – it’s far too serious to ignore.

Adrien’s lawyer told RMC on Tuesday night that this was a setup to push him out of the club, with a possible contractual motive. How do you respond?

Honestly, I don’t know what to say to that. We put an offer on the table over two and a half months ago – maybe no one at OM has ever been offered that salary. A contract worthy of his level. He deserved it. But this talk of pushing him out is false.

And it wasn’t the coach’s decision alone, as claimed. No – every arrival and departure is discussed collectively between Pablo, the coach, and me. Always.

And remember: after 48 hours, we hadn’t received a single call – not from Adrien, not from Rowe, not from their entourage. No apology, no request for a meeting. Nothing. So what do you want us to do? We had no choice.

Yes, it hurts us – maybe more than it hurts them. Because they’ll find clubs, don’t worry. But for us, losing them now is devastating.

So no way back – even if Adrien apologized?

No. The decision has been made. Even his lawyer said: they now consider themselves on the transfer list. There’s no going back.

And if no club meets your asking price? Would you reintegrate him? Or is it impossible for him to play this season with OM?

Florent, the only thing I can say is: they are two top players. One younger, one fully established. And since Tuesday, our phones haven’t stopped ringing. I don’t think we’ll struggle to find top clubs ready to welcome Adrien, or a good club to give Johnny more minutes and help him grow.

Finally, what consequences could this affair have for the season? Can we say it’s a terrible start, or do you hope it will galvanize the squad?

I hope it galvanizes everyone, restores weight to the institution, makes the players understand that while they’re the ones on the pitch, they must still respect the framework we put in place. Without discipline, recovery, and work, you can’t perform.

This is OM – I joined at 15, I know this environment. If we have a good season, everyone will say “Well done.” But lose two games, and they’ll say “Idiots – they sidelined two players and now they’re paying the price.”

But I won’t take the easy way. The easy way would have been to close my eyes, have a coffee with them, hand out a fine, and pretend it never happened. But then you go home knowing you failed. Because players were shocked.

So yes, it hurts me deeply – losing these two players at this moment. But I won’t let results dictate integrity. Football judges you on results, that’s true. Last year we finished second, and we were criticized all season. All season!

But as long as I’m here, with Pablo and the coach, we’ll make the decisions we believe are best for the club – not for us, but for OM.

Interview by Florent Germain (RMC)