Beaten in Lyon on Friday evening (1-0), OGC Nice sharply criticized the performance of the refereeing body and of Mr. Turpin in particular. SAFE is upset about it this Saturday.
The elite football referees’ union is angry. This Saturday, SAFE stepped up to defend referee Clément Turpin, a target since Friday evening and the opening match of the 22e day of L1 between OL and the Gym many criticisms.
At the end of this meeting lost by the Aiglons (1-0), the president of Nice, Jean-Pierre Rivère, notably let loose on the Prime video antenna. “ That’s several matches with refereeing errors even though there is VAR. So what is it for? It’s no longer possible, it’s accumulating… Last weekend against Monaco, Mr. Turpin was the VAR referee and it was he who had Dante sent off even though the central referee had not signaled a foul. (…) We’re not bad losers but at some point we have to say stop. We put the VAR in place, we are the ones who finance it for a little more justice but, if it is of no use, we will have to ask ourselves some good questions. When we look at the replays, there are at least two penalties… »
The requested sound system
And the Riviera boss added to the mention of Clément Turpin: “ At some point, he has to question himself. It’s serious not even being able to speak to a referee after a match, we are also players in the game. He says to me: “Don’t touch me! Don’t point your finger at me! » I would like him to explain, but he is untouchable. At some point, he has to come back down. The stakes are high. When I saw that he was officiating this evening, I said to myself “ouch ouch ouch”. »
For the referees’ union, Jean-Pierre Rivère has thus exceeded the limits. “ SAFE can only regret the ad hominem attacks against a colleague. As much as it seems completely normal for a club president to be able to give his opinion on the performance of a referee, it is simply unacceptable for him to attack the man. » And the SAFE is demanding more than ever the installation of the referees’ sound system to protect itself from such controversies. “ Access to the sound of referees will allow decisions to be taught and will avoid unfounded criticism which harms the image of football. SAFE recalls the overwhelming wish of arbitrators to be able to provide access to their explanations of their decisions. SAFE expects strong messages from football authorities to defend referees who are unfairly attacked and concrete progress. »
