Referee threatened by Paulo Fonseca breaks silence
Benoit Billot admits slight physical contact and speaks of a «particularly intimidating and aggressive attitude»
Benoit Billot, the referee for Lyon -Brest (2-1), reacted to Paulo Fonseca’s outburst when he put his head on his forehead in the final moments of the match, after being sent off. The 43-year-old referee condemned the aggressive attitude of the Lyon coach, who risks a heavy punishment.
The referee confessed that he was surprised by the Portuguese coach’s attitude, which occurred afterMillot was called to the VAR, in injury time, to check a possible penalty in favor of the visitors – which ended up not happening. Paulo Fonseca was irritated when he returned, said something he shouldn’t have to the referee and was sent off, later hitting his head.In an interview with L’Équipe, Millot explained that he gave Fonseca a straight red card, after having already warned him earlier in the game and he didn’t even have time to say that he wouldn’t give the penalty to Brest for a possible handball in the area.
“In fact, it was out of control. And then he has the even more impressive move of trying to strike a blow, a headbutt. I freeze, partly because of the surprise effect, but mainly because I don’t want to back down in the face of this intimidation. Some players came to push him, as well as some security guards, I think, and maybe some members of his team. Then he walked away, only to return a second time… And then, finally, he left the vicinity of the playing area. I didn’t even have time to announce the final decision, which was not to award a penalty to Brest,” he explains.
But did they ever touch each other? «It seems that there was, in fact, a slight touching of noses… I was astonished by a particularly intimidating and aggressive attitude, difficult to imagine coming from a professional coach. I tried to deal with the situation by maintaining my position”, said the referee, who assured that he was not traumatized by the incident: “I’m fine. But when you see the images again, you might be impressed. Maybe you think it’s too serious. In any case, we cannot tolerate this kind of behavior.’
At the end of the meeting, Paulo Fonseca apologized to the press, but he is unlikely to escape a heavy punishment.
