Pascal Garibian (judge technical director): “Francois Leteuxier is fundamentally honest! »
On L’Équipe on Monday, Nantes coach Antoine Kombouare made sure that “Anger has not subsided” Match on the refereeing of François Letexier, who did not whistle the penalty in favor of FCN, despite the double hand of Mattia Viti (21st) on Sunday in Nice (1-1) (substituted by Nicolas Pepé, 90 + 7), for the hand of Jean-Charles Castelletto , and Dante could be punished for raising the defender of Nantes.
The Canaries coach made the announcement later in the program Evening Team : ” We talked about refereeing, VAR, but on Sunday I saw more dishonest people. And I confirm. To err is human, I make mistakes every day in my job, it’s human. On the other hand, I can’t accept the decision because I can lie to justify it. »
And he admitted to an exchange with technical director of arbitration Pascal Garibian on Monday, saying: ” Judges are hermetic to any discussion. Mr. Garibian says “don’t talk about betrayal”, but when you have a dishonest person in front of you (in which case fourth umpire Robin Chapapria would tell him, with Vitti’s double hand: “Mr. Kombuare, don’t move, we’re checking the pictures”then: ” “We don’t whistle for a penalty because the ball hits the body first”), what do you say? He was dishonest, so he cheated, that’s all. I don’t accept the decision made yesterday. Only in this action. »
“We cannot accept the coach questioning the referee’s integrity”
Pascal Garibian, technical director of refereeing
Reached this Tuesday morning, Pascal Garibian responded emphatically: “ We cannot accept that the coach should question the integrity and correctness of the judge in general, this is impossible. François Letexier and all judges in general are honest and fair. They may make mistakes, but their integrity should not be questioned. I offered Antoine Combois a discussion on the situations of this match so that he fully understands the job of the umpiring crew and the tools we have to cut in these always complex situations where hands may or may not be penalized. »
And the DTA categorically rejects this impression of Kombouaré “Judges ignore any discussion” : ” We have already had discussions with the coaches. Antoine Combuire took part in the meeting held at the Replay Center (VAR headquarters, end of September) and he appreciated this exchange, where he saw how difficult it was to interpret certain situations. That’s why I offered to exchange situations on Sunday. But I cannot say that the judges are dishonest. It seems that he is talking about communication with the fourth judge, but I do not want to argue. François Letexier is fundamentally honest and there are no lies! »
Garibian: “The time for technical analysis is not the time for media analysis”
“The DTA and Francois Letexier himself are ready to go to Nantes to discuss. DTA is open to dialogue, even if the time for technical analysis is not necessarily the time for media analysis. There is a potential misunderstanding, but again, we cannot doubt the integrity of the judges. We are currently in the midst of “national arbitration days” promoting referees and arbitration through the recruitment and retention of our amateur referees. When we attack people, amateur referees also suffer the consequences of behavior that has no place in professional football. »
Regarding possible disciplinary action against Kombouaré, the latter said: ” If they sanction me, then they cover up the judge who lied on the spot. Thus, they do their work with each other, protect each other. We can’t do that. “Pascal Garibian simply recalled:” There are disciplinary bodies (LFP Disciplinary Committee) and it is not DTA’s responsibility…. »
