The victory of Olympique Lyonnais against Valenciennes on Tuesday in the semi-final of the Coupe de France sparked very strong reactions…
Twelve years after its last victory in the event, Olympique Lyonnais will compete in the final of the Coupe de France on May 25. A year after stalling in the semi-final against Nantes, OL did not miss the opportunity this time. Opposed to Valenciennes at Groupama Stadium, Les Gones won 3-0. A flattering score given the nature of the match.
The two teams were still back to back at the break and the Rhone club can thank Stéphanie Frappart. Because after having denied a goal to Valenciennes shortly before the break for a foul by Anthony Knockaert on Jack O'Brien, the Ile-de-France referee awarded a very generous penalty to Olympique Lyonnais despite the use of video and poorly understood images. convincing. A decision which provoked very strong reactions.
“Infamous”
Thus, Grégory Schneider, journalist at Releasedid not hesitate, on X (formerly Twitter), to affirm that the competition was rigged, the referees taking care to serve the purposes of the big clubs. “Stéphanie Frappart will have had at least one merit in eliminating the #VAFC alone: showing that the competition is a simulacrum, a comedy, rigged – a pretext for the idiots to believe in it while protecting the powerful. Infamous »he wrote.
The words of the football specialist will not displease Anthony Knockaert, the Valencian playmaker. “ It's hard to find the words. (…) There is this penalty… I haven’t seen the images again but it seems very light to me. I do the same thing a minute before, I throw myself at the defender and she doesn't whistle In the area, she whistles, he whispered into the microphone of beIN Sports at the end of the meeting, clearly suggesting that the big clubs were favored: “ Is it because it's a big club? I don't know, I'm weighing my words. They can suspend me if they want, I don't care. It's hard to accept. They should ask themselves questions at the refereeing level.”
