Rare thing, the referee François Letexier spoke in the press, in this case in The Team, sn the meeting Nice 1-1 Nantes, which has sparked controversy, especially with the coach of the Canaries, Antoine Kombouaré.
Very angry after meetingAntoine Kombouaré had added a layer later, before being taken over by the boss of the arbitration, Pascal Garibian. This time, it’s François Letexier’s turn to explain his decisions. On the double hand in the surface of the Nice Mattia Vitti, the referee explains not to have whistled penalty, because “his first hand is not punishable, because it is fully stuck to the body”and the second “results from a first contact” which does “following a clear deflection of the ball”the defender “not being able to anticipate the fact that he will come on his second hand, given his high speed and short distance”. Moreover, the Italian “makes an inward arm movement”, the arbitrator therefore deduced “a desire to reduce body surface area rather than expand it”.
Regretting not having been able to explain his decision to Antoine Kombouaré when he returned from the locker room, before the second half, François Letexier reveals that he should also have gone to see the VAR images at the end of the match: “We should also have seen the images on the penalty awarded to Nice (transformed by Nicolas Pépé at 90+7). When it ends with so much incomprehension, I necessarily have some responsibility.
Alban Lafont and Kader Bamba, for Nantes, received a red at the end of the game (90+10 and 90+8).