A Ligue 1 referee reveals very disturbing practices in the French championship.
You don’t understand anything about Ligue 1 refereeing? Why are some hands in the box whistled, and others not? Why are some shin tackles subject to VAR intervention, but not all? This will perhaps reassure you, but the referees themselves are lost.
Here is what a Ligue 1 article says this Wednesday in the columns of L’Equipe. “ If referees do the stupid things they do, it’s mainly because what we hear during training is mind-blowing, this whistle testifies. The technical line is completely submerged. It fluctuates during the season. »
“We can ‘cheat’ with VAR”, admits a referee
And this referee made this explosive, even scandalous revelation: “Our daily life consists of debriefings which are carried out according to the name of the referee, referees who are more or less protected, situations where we are told that we can ‘cheat’ more or less with the VAR to protect the colleague’s decision, particularly on offside… There are many examples. »
Some Ligue 1 referees would therefore protect themselves. So this is what will provoke a reaction, at the end of a weekend where the president of OGC Nice directly attacked the man we can consider to be the French referee n°1, Clément Turpin, who he deplores “untouchable”.
One of the concerns raised about French arbitration, too, is this two-headed leadership which confuses the message. “ For us, let it be Antony Gautier (the director of refereeing)or Stéphane Lannoy (in charge of professionals, with great autonomy), who cares, that’s not the point, However, confides the Ligue 1 referee who speaks in L’Equipe. Today, we no longer know how to referee. One day you have to referee black and the next day white. It’s not possible to continue like this. »
