Lyon boss Paulo Fonseca handed remarkable NINE-MONTH ban for confronting referee
Paulo Fonseca was sent off in stoppage time of Lyon's 2-1 victory over Brest on Sunday, having squared up to referee Benoit Millot, who was about to review a potential penalty through VAR
Lyon manager Paulo Fonseca has been banned for NINE MONTHS after physically confronting a referee.
Fonseca, 52, squared up to referee Benoit Millot in stoppage time of Lyon's 2-1 win against Brest in Ligue 1 on Sunday. The Portuguese coach was incensed after Millot was called to the VAR monitor to review a potential penalty for Brest.
In a dramatic moment, Fonseca went head-against-head with Millot, shouting in his face as the official pulled out a red card. No penalty was awarded and Lyon secured all three points in Fonseca's fifth game as manager.
But Les Gones' boss will now be suspended from the touchline until November after his punishment was confirmed.
READ MORE: PSG star makes Anfield promise after Liverpool snatch first leg win - 'We're going to win there'READ MORE: Arne Slot given free run at summer transfer as Liverpool 'open talks' with agentThe FLP confirmed in a statement on Wednesday that Fonseca will be banned from the touchline until November 30. The 52-year-old also won't be allowed in the dressing room with Lyon players before and after an official match until September 15.
Explaining the nine-month ban, Sebastien Deneux, president of the disciplinary committee, said: "Mr Fonseca is a Ligue 1 coach. He is above all an educator. It goes without saying that this attitude is strictly incompatible with these functions.
"The committee found that Mr Fonseca's attitude, throwing himself towards the referee, yelling at him, to the point that they found themselves head to head, is an attitude characteristic of intimidating and threatening behaviour."
Fonseca, who was both appointed and sacked by AC Milan earlier this season, apologised for his behaviour in a post-match interview with DAZN. "I apologise for this gesture. I shouldn't do that," he admitted.
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"Football makes us do bad gestures. The match was very difficult. Playing against Brest is always difficult, they are a physical team, they defended a lot. These are very important points."
Millot gave his version of events in an interview with L'Equipe, explaining: "He (Fonseca) rushed toward me with an intimidating attitude and I decided to send him off directly. There was, it seems, a slight contact with the nose. [It was] a particularly intimidating, aggressive attitude, which one can hardly imagine from a professional coach."
Fonseca's ban comes a week after Marseille president Pablo Longoria was handed a whopping 15-match suspension after accusing French referees of corruption following their 3-0 defeat to Auxerre. In Ligue 2, Bastia manager Benoit Tavenot was given a 12-match ban - four of which were suspended - for dragging Pau player Jordy Gaspar off the pitch, resulting in a red card.
Lyon are next in action away to Romanian side FCSB in the Europa League on Thursday.
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