A FRENCH star has been suspended for wishing his team-mate happy birthday on social media.
Marseille star Rayan Hassad, 18, wished former Newcastle and Porto defender Chancel Mbemba happy birthday on his Instagram story.
Mbemba, though, is currently banished from Marseille’s first-team for demonstrating “poor behaviour” in training according to regional French paper La Provence and reported by Get French Football News.
Hassad’s message to Mbemba said “Happy birthday cousin”, with the term “cousin” allegedly a reference to an incident which caused Mbemba’s suspension.
The message was said to be the “final straw”.
Hassad is alleged to have already angered the club’s hierarchy by insulting a team-mate and refusing to carry out instructions given to him by the club.
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Hassad has since posted a message to his Instagram story apologising to the club, saying: “I was indeed suspended as a precautionary measure by Olympique de Marseille following an Instagram story where I wished a teammate a happy birthday.
“I would like to clarify that at no time did I want to cause harm to my club and its management.
“It was a simple birthday message, as I usually do with other teammates. If I hurt someone, I apologise but know that this was never my intention.”
Hassad is a Marseille youth and reserve player and is yet to make an appearance for Marseille’s first-team.
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Mbemba had been playing regularly and helped Marseille reach the semi-finals of the Europa League last season.
But he was deemed surplus to requirements by new manager Roberto De Zerbi this summer.
Mbemba was then told to train with the reserves while he found a move, which is where the incident that saw him suspended is said to have taken place.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
