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PSG suspend player who said Laurent Blanc ‘sucks Zlatan’

Paris Saint-Germain have suspended defender Serge Aurier after he insulted coach Laurent Blanc and many of his team-mates in a live video he and a friend recorded with the online app Periscope on Saturday night.

Published: 15 February 2016 07:21 CET
PSG suspend player who said Laurent Blanc 'sucks Zlatan'
Serge Aurier and Laurent Blanc in happier times. Photo: AFP

“I have taken the decision to suspend Serge Aurier. Paris Saint-Germain is a very strong institution that cannot be harmed by anybody,” PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said in a club statement.

The decision to suspend the 23-year-old defender means he will not play any part in Tuesday's Champions League last 16, first leg against Chelsea at the Parc des Princes.

“I will not let anybody put the club in danger and divert us from our objectives, starting with the game against Chelsea that our supporters are really looking forward to.

“All the energy of the club, the players, the coach and his staff, is focused on this huge match for us and our fans.”

The announcement came after Ivory Coast international Aurier was reportedly excluded from training with the squad on Sunday following the appearance of the video.

In it, he appeared to describe Blanc as a “faggot”, although he was not actually in shot at the time.

When his friend, a former French youth international, asks him whether or not “Blanc sucks off Zlatan (Ibrahimovic)?”, Aurier answers: “Yes, he takes everything, even his balls.”

Aurier later apologised, telling Canal Plus and beIN Sports: “What I did was really stupid and inexcusable. I apologise to the coach and the supporters.

“I really regret what happened and accept all consequences. I can only thank Laurent Blanc for all that he has done for me at PSG.”

Aurier would have been expected to start against Chelsea after being rested for Saturday's 0-0 draw with Lille in Ligue 1 but now Gregory van der Wiel or Marquinhos will take his place.

The Periscope app allows people to broadcast live videos via their smartphones, which Aurier did as his friend, who was smoking a shisha pipe, asked him questions posed by fans.

Aurier, who was born in the Ivory Coast before being raised in the Paris suburbs, continued to insult his team-mates in an expletive-filled tirade, including Angel di Maria, whom he called a “clown”.

When asked which PSG goalkeeper, Salvatore Sirigu or Kevin Trapp, was better, Aurier replied simply that Sirigu was “done”.

The right-back has responded that the video was old, but comments on the live feed referencing Valentine's Day suggest that it was posted on Saturday night.

Aurier got himself into trouble in a similar manner just under a year ago.

Last season PSG knocked Chelsea out in the last-16 on away goals, despite a controversial red card for Ibrahimovic.

Aurier was then suspended after repeatedly swearing while insulting referee Bjorn Kuipers in a video he posted on social media.

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FOOTBALL

OPINION: Mbappé’s title, but PSG need to breathe new life into Qatari project

After being the star of France's 2018 World Cup triumph, Kylian Mbappé has been the standout player for Paris Saint-Germain in a Ligue 1 title-winning campaign that has been slightly marred by the manner in which they limped over the line.

Published: 22 April 2019 13:05 CEST
OPINION: Mbappé's title, but PSG need to breathe new life into Qatari project
Photos AFP

PSG finally wrapped up the title on Sunday after second-placed Lille failed to beat Toulouse, having not won any of their previous three games when the opportunity to confirm a sixth French crown in seven seasons was there.

The Qatari-owned club can still make it a domestic double, with the French Cup final to come against Rennes next weekend, yet this will not be remembered as a vintage year.

While Neymar once again went missing due to injury at the crucial point, Edinson Cavani has struggled with fitness too, and coach Thomas Tuchel has regularly lashed out at the lack of depth in his squad.

The 5-1 capitulation at Lille a week ago was the worst league result for PSG since Qatar Sports Investments bought the club in 2011, and the first time they had let in five in a league game since 2000.

A record-breaking 14-match winning run with which they started the season now seems like a long time ago, the latest Champions League failure clouding Tuchel's first campaign in charge.

Mbappé, at least, has been a constant, revelling in his status as a World Cup winner and hardly ever being rested. He only turned 20 in December, but has now won three Ligue 1 titles in a row.

Mbappé has 36 goals in 40 games this season, with 30 in the league. And, frighteningly, his team-mate Daniel Alves told RMC recently that “he doesn't realise how good he is, he can go much further”.

He is also not used to losing, and may have upset some of his teammates with his assessment of last week's defeat at Lille. “We played like beginners,” he said.

Hollow ring

To be fair, they have usually been exceptional domestically. However, the problem is that as long as they keep failing in the Champions League, domestic success for a club backed by a Gulf state will continue to ring hollow.

The title has effectively been in the bag for some time, but their season has been winding down ever since their exit against Manchester United in the last 16.

That, combined with being knocked out in the League Cup quarter-finals, means Tuchel in his first season has actually done worse than Unai Emery, his unloved predecessor.

Paris Saint-Germain coach Thomas Tuchel has actually done worse than his predecessor, Unai Emery
However, according to sports daily L'Equipe, Tuchel has agreed to extend his contract to 2021. Thoughts have already turned to the future, with new signings needed at the Parc des Princes.

The costly Neymar experiment cannot be said to have succeeded until he stays fit for the games that matter, and there will always be speculation about his future.

“We have a contract, we're not even halfway through that contract,” Neymar's father pointed out to RMC Sport.

Time for a clear-out? 

Mbappé is the one man they really cannot afford to lose, but is it time for a clear-out elsewhere?

Some of the excitement of the early part of the decade has gone, replaced with a staleness. The days of Thiago Silva, Edinson Cavani and Marco Verratti are maybe ending.

Youri Djorkaeff, a World Cup winner for France and a PSG star in the 1990s, offers a frank assessment, suggesting real change is needed higher up.

“If you're not great in every compartment, from the bus driver to the girls who clean the shirts, you will go nowhere,” he told Ligue 1 Podcast, 'Le Beau Jeu'.

“Paris Saint-Germain, after many years without success, have to rebuild everything, restart from scratch, because the foundations are not good. You cannot expect to one day win the Champions League without these foundations.”

The Qatar project needs a breath of fresh air, and all eyes will be on president Nasser al-Khelaifi and sporting director Antero Henrique.

UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules remain a problem, though, with PSG said to have a hole of around 100 million euros and the need to present a balanced budget by the end of June. The next few months will be interesting.

By Andy Scott/AFP

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