Former Lyon Defender Marcelo Responds To Reports He Was Removed From Squad For Farting And Laughing About It

In August, the Brazilian was permanently axed and demoted to the reserves due to "inappropriate behaviour" in a "dressing room incident" following a 3-0 loss to Angers, a game where he scored an own goal.

Not much information for his long-term absence was given until the bizarre story emerged this week.

But now Marcelo, 34, has called fake news on the reports.

He tweeted: "Thanks to @lequipe, after a long time, I have to come back to @Twitter to deny all the allegations. Journalism nowadays is a joke!"

Juninho Pernambucano, one of Lyon's greatest ever players and now the sporting director of Les Gones, also weighed in.

Roughly translated, his post reads: "See, I told you, defender has to fart loud, long and stinky. Yours was only loud, then it's weak."

At the time, Lyon issued the following statement: “The inappropriate behaviour of Marcelo in the locker room after the match in Angers justifies this decision, which was taken unanimously by Olympique Lyonnais' management team,

"The player was briefed on this decision yesterday afternoon by Juninho and Peter Bosz. Olympique Lyonnais' management reiterates that all of its players must demonstrate an unwavering mindset and a commitment to quickly return to recording results in line with the club's ambitions.” 

Former PSV Eindhoven and Marcelo made over 100 appearances for Lyon and ended up turning out 11 times for the second side after being ostracised from first-team proceedings.

Released in January, he stayed in Ligue One with Bordeaux and has played nine times.