“How do you want them to be respected?”, Antoine Kombouaré rails against the Nice-Nantes referees

Led for forty minutes by Nantes, OGC Nice grabbed the point of the draw in a stormy end to the match and especially marked by a contentious arbitration (1-1), Sunday, October 23, during the 12th day of Ligue 1. Nicolas Pépé equalized in added time on a penalty following a handball from Jean-Charles Castelletto. The Nantes defender seemed to be the victim, on the same action, of a fault by Dante. The decision of referee François Letexier, who relied on his assistants without moving, aroused incomprehension and tension rose even in the corridors of the Allianz Riviera.

FC Nantes coach Antoine Kombouaré was furious. “How do you want us to respect the referees? How do you want the guys to be respected? That he goes to see the VAR and then he makes a decisionhe complained to the microphone of Canal + in the middle of the match. Just now, he did it well. Is he scared or what? We want honesty and justice.”

Because in the first period, Nantes could have benefited from a penalty on a double hand from Mattia Viti. Mr. Letexier went to check the video assistance and considered that the Niçois was not at fault. “I’m mad, I hate liescontinued Antoine Kombouaré. The referee lied to me. I hate liars. He tells me that the ball hits the hip and then the hand. But it affects both hands. It freaks me out.”

After the match, the referee gave a red card to Kader Bamba and a second yellow card to goalkeeper Alban Lafont for protest, synonymous with expulsion. Two players who will therefore be automatically suspended for the next day. “I see the referee handing out red cards. I think when it’s like that, you have to get out of the field and go back to the locker room, got annoyed Nicolas Pallois on Canal +. It’s no use arguing. We can’t talk to him.”