Antoine Kombouaré suspended a firm match for his criticism of arbitration

The LFP Disciplinary Committee has decided. Nantes coach Antoine Kombouaré was suspended for three matches, one of which was closed, Wednesday November 9, for having accused the referees of the match against Nice (1-1), on October 23, of having “lied” and to have been “dishonest”.

After examining the Nantes coach’s post-match behavior, the committee decided to suspend him “of the bench, the referees’ locker room and all official functions”, for a closed match therefore, from Tuesday November 15, 2022 at midnight. The suspension will come for the first Ligue 1 match scheduled after the World Cup in Qatar. It will therefore be during the 16th day in Troyes, the weekend of December 28.

The Nantes coach was angry in particular, on October 23, with referee François Letexier for not having whistled a penalty in the first period for a hand fault by Nice’s Mattia Viti, despite watching the VAR. “At halftime, I went to review the images. It’s a liesaid the technician in particular after the match. You can’t lie that much. And I hate liars (…) It’s dishonest and I hate dishonest people.”

On another action, which brought a penalty and the Nice equalizer, at the very end of the match, Kombouaré had not understood that the referee did not go to see the VAR: “He went well in the first half to avoid whistling a penalty. There, let him do the same! Especially at this time of the match”he regretted.

The Canaries coach never exchanged with Mr. Letexier afterwards: “He didn’t want to talk to me. That’s what saddens me. At half-time, I asked to be received. He didn’t want to and closed the locker room. At the end of the match , they locked themselves in. In their positions, their decision. That’s how it is. Afterwards, they shouldn’t be surprised that we no longer have confidence. It’s dishonesty. When people lie like you can’t accept that.”