Brazilian footballer Marcelo has been forced to deny that he was sold by former club Olympique Lyonnais because he farted too often in front of team-mates.
The 34-year-old spent five years with the Ligue 1 club after signing from Besiktas in 2017, before being moved on to relegation-threatened Girondins de Bordeaux in January of this year.
French sports newspaper l’Équipe reports that one of the predominant reasons for the player’s transfer was his propensity to break wind around his team-mates, including during motivational team talks given by captain and French international Léo Dubois. The paper adds that Marcelo’s behaviour was generally considered unprofessional, and his laughter during serious tactical discussions irritated those around him.
Now the player has posted on social media for the first time in a year in order to refute the allegations.
‘Thanks to l’Équipe, after a long time, I have to come back to Twitter to deny all the allegations,’ he wrote on the social network. ‘Journalism nowadays is a joke!’
The former PSV player was demoted to the Lyon reserve team in August 2021, six months prior to being sold, after scoring an own goal in a defeat to Angers and allegedly farting in the dressing room afterwards. He did not play for the first-team again.
In December 2019, a Lyon fan incensed by Marcelo’s performances entered the field of play at the club’s Groupama Stadium and unfurled a banner depicting the defender as a donkey, with the words ‘GET LOST’ emblazoned alongside it.
Marcelo failed to win a trophy in his time with Lyon, with the team’s high-point being a runner-up finish in the now defunct Coupe de la Ligue in 2020.
With only two games left to play this season, the player’s new club Bordeaux are bottom of the league, four points behind St. Etienne in 18th who occupy the relegation play-off spot.
Paris Saint-Germain have already won the Ligue 1 title, while Olympique de Marseille and AS Monaco occupy the two places with qualify for the UEFA Champions League.
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