Lyon boss Fonseca gets nine-month ban for confronting referee

After he furiously confronted a referee, Lyon manager Paulo Fonseca was suspended from his matchday duties for nearly nine months.

When Lyon defeated Brest 2-1 on March 2, 52-year-old Fonseca was sent off for pushing his face in the direction of official Benoit Millot.

The French Professional Football League stated in a statement on Wednesday that the Portuguese manager would not be allowed to use the bench, the officials’ locker rooms, or perform any official duties prior to, during, or following games until November 30.

Additionally, until September 15th, he will not be allowed to enter the tunnel, the team dressing room, the pitch, or the hallways that lead to those locations.

Lyon acknowledged “the extreme severity of the unprecedented sanction” and said they were concerned by the speed in which it was imposed.

The seven-time French champions, who are currently sixth in Ligue 1, added they were disappointed Fonseca was “not judged on his actions alone, an emotional reaction, without any clear intention of physically attacking the referee” and were “studying all possible avenues of appeal”.

John Textor, the Lyon owner, described the ban as “too severe” in saying that the club would stand by Fonseca.

“I stand with you today and always,” Textor wrote on Instagram.

“You made a mistake, your apology was sincere…and your punishment is clearly too severe. You are the right man for OL and we shall persevere.”

Fonseca, who apologised after the incident, only took charge of the club on 31 January after leaving AC Milan the previous month.

His side are due to face FCSB in the Europa League on Thursday (17:45 GMT).

He was sent off after a review of a potential penalty for Brest – which was not awarded – for his “intimidating attitude”, according to Millot.

“He jumped at me with an intimidating attitude, and I decided to send him off directly. It continued to spiral out of control,” Millot told French sports newspaper L’Equipe on Monday.

“He had an even more intense attitude, attempting to deliver a blow, in fact. A headbutt. I didn’t even have time to announce the final decision, which turned out to be not awarding a penalty.

“There seemed to be a slight contact of the nose, to be precise.”

A match official received a “outpouring of hate” last week after remarks made by Marseille president Pablo Longoria, prompting the French referees organisation to declare that its members would exercise their right to quit if they or their families were in danger.

According to local media, Longoria had protested the use of referee Jeremy Stinat for Marseille’s 3-0 loss to Auxerre in their league match on February 22.

Longoria claimed that “true corruption” was the reason behind the loss and voiced his ire at defender Derek Cornelius’ red card, which resulted in the president being suspended for 15 games.

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