Adrien Rabiot hits out at PSG president: ‘Can’t buy class’

Marseille midfielder Adrien Rabiot took aim at Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi following his side’s 3-1 loss to the Ligue 1 leaders on Sunday, writing on social media that “you can’t buy class.”

The match was marred by anti-gay chanting and racist slurs from PSG fans targeting Marseille and in particular Rabiot, who returned to his former team to a hostile reception.

“Insulting a mother, and a dead father…” Rabiot wrote on social media after the match. “You have to pay for everything one day. You won’t be taking it to heaven. Believe me. Nasser, you can have all the money in the world and even more, but you can’t buy class.”

Paris-born Rabiot made more than 200 appearances for PSG from 2012-19 and has been one of Marseille’s best players this season. He has also been a key figure for France at international level throughout his career.

His decision to play for Marseille after his departure from Juventus was seen as a betrayal by PSG fans.

Rabiot’s mother Véronique, who is also his agent, told Radio France that she will be lodging a complaint after PSG fans displayed insulting banners directed at her and her son.

“I don’t understand why the match wasn’t stopped,” she said, denouncing double standards. “I don’t understand why nobody is outraged. Why are some matches stopped and not others?”

French referees have the power to stop play if fans chant anti-gay and racist slurs in stadiums. But Sunday’s match at the Parc des Princes was not paused by referee Clément Turpin, who is considered one of the best in Europe, despite repeated incidents.

On Monday, a French campaign group called on the country’s authorities to punish the discriminatory singing, with the Rouge Direct group urging the ministers of sport, interior and justice, as well as officials from the French soccer federation and league, to “ensure that these illegal chants are finally severely punished.”

The group posted footage on social media in which hardcore PSG fans can be heard chanting and shouting insults at Marseille. The lyrics of one of the songs compared their rivals to “rats.”

“In the mud there are rats. In the sewers there are rats. Rats are everywhere. They are the Marseillais,” sang supporters in the stands.

The word “rat” can be used in a racist and derogatory way in the French language and the song was widely seen as referencing Marseille’s large Arab minority.

The discriminatory chants at the Parc des Princes were the latest in a series of similar incidents. Anti-gay insults often heard at Ligue 1 matches have been tolerated for a long time by club officials.

Following a match at the Parc des Princes in 2019 between PSG and Marseille, during which home fans chanted anti-gay insults, the league launched an action plan allowing spectators to report sexist, homophobic or racist incidents they witness.

French clubs have been sanctioned with fines, and the league’s disciplinary commission also ordered the closure of stands for similar cases in recent years.

French law provides for up to one year’s imprisonment and a €45,000 ($47,600) fine when anti-gay insults are made in public.

Earlier this season, PSG was forced to close part of the Parc des Princes as punishment for anti-gay chanting by their fans. Marseille supporters were banned from attending Sunday’s match. They, too, have been criticized for their repeated anti-gay chanting at the Velodrome Stadium.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.