Longoria affair: a second referees' union denounces the remarks of the OM president

The case continues to generate a lot of ink. It is now the National Union of Football Referees that has decided to speak out this Wednesday by denouncing Pablo Longoria 's comments. While the president of OM must be informed on the same day about the duration of his sanction imposed by the LFP disciplinary committee. The Unaf has also given its support to Jérémy Stinat, the referee of Auxerre-Marseille last Saturday.

As with Safe, the elite referees' union, Longoria's comments after OM's defeat in Auxerre (3-0) caused a "terrible shock" for Unaf, which brings together all amateur and professional referees. In its press release, the union joins "the steps taken by all referees in the professional sector to sue the president of Olympique de Marseille for defamation."

Furious with Mr. Stinat's refereeing, Pablo Longoria had declared after the match: "This is real corruption!" as he passed journalists in the corridors of the Abbé-Deschamps stadium. Comments that sparked a lively controversy and pushed the Spanish leader to make his mea culpa on Monday in an interview given to AFP.

In its press release, UNAF also announced that it was giving "its full support to Jérémy Stinat and strongly condemned all the abuses or other incidents to which he and his family are unfortunately subjected". The Auxerre-OM referee filed a complaint for damage to a vehicle after finding his tires flat at his home in Landes, and death threats. The prosecution, "as it stands", did not mention on Tuesday any "proven link" with his profession, as the events took place "before the match" on Saturday.

" It's a difficult time to live through ," said the referee, about the impact it has on his family. "Now, we pay attention to everything. We are a discreet family, who want to keep our living environment intact. I didn't think that things like this could happen to us." Pablo Longoria's comments earned him a summons before the disciplinary committee of the Professional Football League, this Wednesday at the end of the afternoon. He faces a heavy sanction .