The LFP disciplinary committee preferred, on Thursday, to put the case under investigation and will not make its decision until January 17, “in view of the seriousness of the facts”. The facts in question: “racist remarks towards the refereeing body leading to a temporary interruption of the Ligue 2 match” between Bastia and Quevilly Rouen Métropole, played on December 16 at Furiani.
At the very end of the match, in added time, the linesman received several insults, including a racist one: “‘Turn around, dirty Arab, turn around,’ Olivier Lamarre, the president of the union, told us this Saturday elite football referees (Safe). There were several insults, but the racist insult is even more unacceptable than the others. You can’t have that on a football field, whatever the level. If we don’t denounce this, we lose our values. »
Match stopped and message to supporters
Immediately, the meeting was interrupted, and the announcer, as required by protocol, passed on the message: “The public in the South stand is asked to no longer insult the linesman,” reports France Bleu RCFM. “The sound message called on the supporters to stop insulting the referee, so there is no ambiguity about the fact that the match was stopped in relation to what was said to the referee,” indicates Olivier Lamarre, while some Corsican supporters believed that the stoppage was due to smoke bombs bursting in the stands.
The assistant referee reported these insults in a report, sent to the disciplinary committee, which met on Thursday. After becoming aware of this situation, the Corsican club, contacted by us, indicated this Saturday that it did not wish to make any comments and referred to its press release published Thursday, in which it said it had learned “with surprise that racist remarks have been reported “. The SCB clearly states that “racism and xenophobia have no place at Furiani and are serious subjects”, before criticizing the referee’s match.
“Taking refuge behind this to hide a refereeing performance that everyone will have been able to judge and that all observers have been able to observe, is not worthy,” indicates Sporting. We only ask for one thing: to be arbitrated and judged like the others. The club hopes that the various authorities contacted will shed light on these astonishing facts. The Sporting Club de Bastia institution, in all its components, will be defended whenever necessary and placed above everything and everyone. »
“A minimally clumsy press release”
A press release which does not please the elite football referees’ union at all. “He is at the very least clumsy, and we are in the wrong fight,” reacts Olivier Lamarre. The fight is to say no to racism, no to discrimination, and yes to the values of football. Never, in rugby, would a club charge the referee in this type of situation. When we communicate like that, we are not defending football, we are not defending its values. And every time we do that at the professional level, we set a very bad example at the amateur level. »
He also deplores that the Safe has not received any news from the SCB. Olivier Lamarre is now waiting for the LFP disciplinary committee to “judge in its soul and conscience, based on the facts. If she considers that the facts are unacceptable, she should not accept them and she should make this known.”