Adrien Rabiot’s mother has spoken out for the first time since the midfielder was ‘betrayed’ by Marseille and exiled from the squad after a changing room bust-up with an English team-mate.
Rabiot, 30, and Jonathan Rowe, 22, became involved in a heated altercation last weekend after their side’s 1-0 loss to Rennes on the opening day of the Ligue 1 season.
The feud soon turned ‘extremely violent’, according to Marseille president Pablo Longoria, with security reportedly called into the dressing room to separate the two stars.
The Roberto De Zerbi-managed club later suspended both Rabiot and Rowe from first team action after the unacceptable turn of events, with both players told to find a new club.
Veronique Rabiot, his agent and mother, has now accused Marseille of ‘betraying’ her son over their decision to remove him from the club’s first team.
‘When I learned about his suspension, it was like being struck on the head,’ she told RMC.
Adrien Rabiot’s mother Veronique has defender her son after he was exiled from Marseille’s first team
Rabiot is believed to have become embroiled in a violent bust up with Marseille team-mate Jonathan Rowe
‘It couldn’t have just been because of that altercation. I feel uneasy because he has done so much for Marseille and yet this is how they treat him.
‘Adrien is not angry, but very disappointed. De Zerbi talks about betrayal, but if anyone has been betrayed, it’s Adrien.
‘I never expected this to happen, I thought the worst was at PSG but I was wrong. If me misses an entire season, it will be catastrophic.
‘We have already gone through this once and we don’t want it to happen again.’
The footballer’s mother has been vocal and assertive throughout his career. She once described him as a ‘prisoner of PSG’, accusing the club of holding him ‘hostage’.
Further defending her son after the dramatic incident at Roazhon Park, Veronique compared Rabiot’s situation to that of Mason Greenwood, asking De Zerbi to give the Frenchman a ‘second chance’.
‘When Mason Greenwood signed after hitting his girlfriend, De Zerbi said he could be given a second chance,’ she added.
‘I agree with giving people second chances, but would my son be the only one not entitled to one?’
Veronique has accused Marseille of ‘betraying’ her son in the wake of the clash last Friday
She compared the situation to that of Mason Greenwood, who has offered a second chance at Marseille
Greenwood has rebuilt his career in recent years, returning to football with Getafe before signing for Marseille last summer
Greenwood was charged with attempted rape, controlling and coercive behaviour while at Manchester United before prosecutors dropped the case in 2022. He restarted his career in LaLiga with Getafe before joining Marseille last summer.
Marseille’s president too spoke out in the wake of the dramatic clash between Rabiot and Rowe, describing the incident as ‘never seen before in world football.’
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‘We had to make a decision after an event that went beyond acceptable limits in a football club,’ he told AFP.
‘[The club made] a decision that protects the institution, that protects the season. Roberto De Zerbi has been coaching for 13 years, Medhi Benatia [their sporting director] has been in top-level football since he was 22, I started professional football 20 years ago. I think the three of us have enough experience to say that we have never seen anything like this in a locker room.
‘Do you think that I, the president of Olympique de Marseille, am happy to arrive in this type of situation with one of the most successful players of last season and whom I presented as an example?
‘Honestly, as a club, we are suffering the situation. We are the victim of a situation, a fight without limits, which is completely unheard of in the world of football.’
While Rowe has seemingly secured himself a move to Bologna, Rabiot remains on the hunt for a new club.
He’s been linked with a return to Serie A, with both his former club Juventus and Italian giants Inter Milan thought to be interested. Sides in Ligue 1 are also reportedly monitoring the situation.
Rabiot made 32 appearances for Marseille last season, scoring 10 goals and registering 6 assists from midfield.