Football
Jonathan Johnson, PSG correspondent 4y

Marseille urged to hand minnows cash in Coupe de France stadium row

French minnows Trelissac have urged Marseille to donate their slice of Sunday's Coupe de France round of 64 ticket money towards amateur football in their home region of the Dordogne after OM kept their part of the sales once the clash was moved to a bigger stadium to maximise revenue.

Marseille, second in Ligue 1, edged past the fourth-tier side on penalties 4-2 after a 1-1 draw over 120 minutes -- 30 of which were played with 10 men after Hiroki Sakai was sent off for a second bookable offence.

However, by ignoring the unwritten rule in French domestic cup football etiquette that professional sides gift their part of the gate receipts to their amateur hosts, Marseille upset Trelissac president Fabrice Faure.

Faure confirmed to journalists after the match at Stade de Beaublanc in Limoges that Marseille had not given them their share of the gate receipts and followed that up with an official statement on Monday.

"You can thank OM for not giving us their share of the ticket money," he said after the match. "This is the third time we have played them, yet the first time this has happened. Thanks for amateur football!"

"Trelissac propose to Marseille, in line with their support of smaller amateur clubs, to send their part of the gate receipts to the Football District of the Dordogne," the club added on Monday. "It is run by volunteers and serves the local football landscape that Trelissac are a part of."

Marseille responded to Faure's comments and explained their decision to not offer their share of the ticket money to their lowly hosts, pointing to the venue change from the 3,000-capacity Stade Firmin Daudou as a key reason.

"It has often been club policy to leave the gate receipts when OM are hosted in local stadiums as capacity is low," the statement read. "Trelissac benefitted from a 13,000-seater stadium and the pricing policy, even if fully justified, was between €20-€35 per seat.

"Total revenue amounted to nearly €400,000 before any organisational costs were deducted. Thanks to hosting OM, the stadium sold out and was mainly filled by a majority of Marseille fans.

"It seemed fair to us that under these particular conditions the two clubs should share the gate receipts as this trip cost OM €65,000."

Trelissac mayor Francis Colbac issued an official statement of his own, saying: "It is ancestral tradition in the Coupe de France that in the cases of matches between professional and amateur teams the professional team leaves their part of the gate receipts.

"Grandiose the OM directors have kept their part and justified it with a preposterous communique that was 'absurd' and 'miserable' by L'Equipe's Didier Roustan.

"The attitude of the Marseille directors is quite simply pitiful."

While Marseille broke with tradition, bitter rivals and Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain made a big effort with tiny Linas-Monthlery after their 6-0 win at Stade Robert Bobin on Sunday night.

President Michael Bertansetti lauded PSG's treatment of the club's amateur players and confirmed the financial gift.

"There was great respect," he told RMC Sport. "They were absolute gentlemen. Even Leonardo spoke with us a lot and was very available. Nor was it just Leonardo. It was great!

"I did not speak directly with PSG on the topic of the gate receipts. However, I have somebody in charge of that organisation, very close to me, who confirmed to me that they left it to us."

Both PSG and Marseille are in the hat for the round of 32 draw for later this month.

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