Olympique Lyonnais coach Paulo Fonseca was red-carded in Ligue 1, France’s top club football competition, on March 2. The French Professional Football League has now banned him for nine months for the offence. He started arguing with the referee over a penalty against Lyon, and at one point, Fonseca headbutted the referee. As a result, he received a long ban.
The penalty decision was overturned by VAR. However, Fonseca was sent off after overreacting to referee Benoit Meyre. Lyon beat Brest 2-1 in the home match.
In a statement, the French Football League said the Portuguese coach will not be allowed to be on the match officials’ bench, in the dressing room or in any official event before or after the match until November 30. He will also not be allowed to enter the dressing room, field, tunnel or corridor until September 15.
The 52-year-old coach Fonseca’s punishment has been described by his club Lyon as “unprecedented”. Under his leadership, Olympique Lyonnais have won three and lost two of their five matches so far. As a result, the team is currently sixth in Ligue 1 with 39 points from 24 matches. They have a Europa League match against Romanian club Steaua Bucharest tonight (Thursday). Apart from this match, it remains to be seen how the club will cope without this coach for the next nine months or whether it will affect the contract signed with him until 2027.
It is worth noting that the president of another French league club was recently banned for 15 matches. Olympique Marseille president Pablo Longoria called the referee “corrupt” after a 3-0 defeat to Auxerre on February 22. He is now off the field after reacting angrily to the red card shown to one of his team’s defenders.
