One of the most bizarre moments of the season, anywhere in Europe, happened in France’s Ligue 1 back in January during a clash between Nantes and Paris Saint-Germain.
Diego Carlos was shown a second yellow in the first minute of stoppage time after he inadvertently collided with referee Tony Chapron during a PSG counter-attack.
Replays showed that Carlos had accidentally tripped the match official, who stunned the world by kicking out at the Brazilian centre-back in retaliation.
Chapron was furious and reacted in the heat of the moment.
That moment of madness led to a six-month ban, half of which was suspended, from a French league disciplinary committee.
Chapron tried to save face after the incident and came out with a rather lame excuse for his actions.
“During the match Nantes-PSG I was knocked over by Diego Carlos, a player with Nantes. At the moment of impact I felt a sharp pain where I had recently suffered an injury,” he was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail in January. “My unfortunate reaction was to stick my leg out towards the player. This clumsy gesture was inappropriate. So I want to apologise following this action.”
Nobody bought his excuse
As bad excuses go, this was right up there alongside: ‘The dog ate my homework, sir’.
Nobody bought it, Tony.
Chapron, who had announced prior to the incident that this would be his final season as a referee, had overseen more than 400 matches in France’s top flight – including the French Cup final 2014 – after making his professional bow in 2004.
And despite January’s incident, he clearly still has the respect of his peers.
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What’s just happened to Chapron is ridiculous
Why? Because something rather extraordinary has just happened.
Per ESPN, Chapron has just been named the French top flight’s referee of the year.
Seriously.
The national directorate for refereeing attempted to have the vote annulled but, as things stand, he will receive the award at the UNFP Trophy Ceremony on May 13.
It’s understood that other referees in Ligue 1 voted for Chapron in order to show solidarity to the suspended match official.
While their gesture is admirable, it’s also pretty ridiculous.
Chapron kicked a player which, and this really should go without saying, is clearly unacceptable. The last thing he deserved this season was an award for the best referee in France.
If anything, it’s made a complete mockery of the accolade.
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