Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been removed from Marseille’s matchday squad for Sunday’s Ligue 1 encounter against Le Havre AC after a late-night disturbance at the club’s La Commanderie training centre escalated into a formal disciplinary matter involving administrative staff.
According to L’Équipe, the incident took place on Thursday night when Aubameyang allegedly led a group of around ten teammates on a disruptive tour through several rooms of the sporting residence. The players had reportedly grown frustrated after spending consecutive nights confined to the facility, and the veteran striker is said to have sought to “create some atmosphere” and lift the mood among the group.
The situation deteriorated significantly when a fire extinguisher was discharged during the antics. The primary target was Bob Tahri, a member of the club’s sporting administration responsible for enforcing the squad’s curfew. Tahri was reportedly sprayed with the extinguisher, and his bed and personal belongings were also affected in the process.
Tahri subsequently reported the incident to club leadership, triggering an emergency response. Interim president Alban Juster and incoming president Stéphane Richard both launched a fact-finding inquiry into the events of that evening. Despite Aubameyang formally apologising to Tahri and the club’s hierarchy, Marseille maintained its decision to sanction the forward and exclude him from the squad.
The suspension marks a notable fall from grace for a player who spent the 2021-22 season at Arsenal, where he had previously served as club captain, before departing for Barcelona in January 2022. Aubameyang joined Marseille ahead of the 2023-24 season and has remained at the club since, though his time in southern France has not been without turbulence.
At 36, Aubameyang is in the latter stages of a career that has also included spells at Saint-Étienne, Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea, and Al Qadsiah. His disciplinary record has drawn scrutiny at previous clubs as well — Arsenal stripped him of the captaincy in December 2021 following a separate disciplinary breach before he was eventually released from his contract the following month.
Marseille currently occupy a position in the upper reaches of Ligue 1 as the season approaches its conclusion, and the club will be without one of their senior forwards for a fixture that carries potential implications for their final standings. The Le Havre match is scheduled for Sunday, though no specific kickoff time was confirmed in initial reports.
The club has not issued a formal public statement on the matter beyond the disciplinary action taken, and further consequences for Aubameyang or the other players reportedly involved in the incident have not been confirmed at the time of writing.
