French radio station Radio Monte Carlo, L'Équipe, and La Provence have provided further updates on the internal unrest at Olympique de Marseille.
On Thursday evening, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was accused of causing a commotion at Marseille's training base "Commanderie," which included spraying Bob Tahri, the representative of the sporting director, with a fire extinguisher.
As a result of this incident, Aubameyang has been sanctioned and will not participate in Marseille's away match against Le Havre this Sunday (9 PM).
Was this Aubameyang's way of relieving fatigue from consecutive training camps? A challenge to the club's authority? Or merely a prank that went too far? After the fourth consecutive evening of training at the base on Thursday, a disturbance broke out in the gymnasium at "Commanderie," leading to Aubameyang's exclusion from the Marseille squad.
Aubameyang led around ten noisy players in creating a commotion through several rooms, seemingly without malicious intent.
The problem arose when he used a fire extinguisher to spray Bob Tahri—who was responsible for enforcing the training base curfew—along with his bed and personal belongings. The former 3000m steeplechase champion was extremely displeased and reported the incident to Marseille's senior management.
The two co-presidents, interim president Alban Juster and incoming president Stéphane Richard, met with the entire team on Friday noon to investigate the situation before imposing sanctions on Aubameyang. Consequently, Aubameyang will miss Marseille's away match against Le Havre this Sunday (9 PM).
According to multiple sources, the 36-year-old Gabonese international has apologized to Tahri and the club management, stating that he only wanted to "liven up the atmosphere".