This event took place on October 11th, during a match in France between JS Pontoisienne and FC Ecouen, in a U18 third division match in the Paris region. During this match, a terrible physical and verbal assault took place against the referee who was overseeing the match, a young amateur referee who was just 19 years-old…
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Violent sexist insults
In a very tense match, things got out of hand in the second half. Towards the 60th minute of play, the referee ejected a JS Pontoisienne trainer who was constantly challenging her decisions. But 13 minutes later, he returned to the field, an illegal act, and he received a red card... without, however, complying with the referee's request. In this very electric atmosphere, the match then sunk a little more into madness! This incident is unfortunately too recurrent in the world of football...
Around the 75th minute, a JS Pontoisienne was sent off for violent insults towards an opponent: ‘I'm going to f**k your mother, you son of a bitch.’ When he then received his red card, the player faced off against the referee and violently insulted her:
What's the matter with you, you little bitch? Shut your mouth or I’ll f**k you too, I'm not leaving. What are you going to do? I'm not leaving, what are you going to do? I'm going to stay here and f**k you all one by one, this is La Pontoisienne, me and my team, we’ll f**k you, you sons of bitches.
Disturbing violent words…
A player returns to the pitch... to strike the referee
The player finally left the pitch thanks to the intervention of a few players, but he nevertheless continued to insult the referee and, sadder still, had the support and complicity of friends present at the stadium. This episode was unfortunately not the end: another JS Pontoisienne player was ejected for homophobic insults towards a linesman, but he too returned to put pressure on the referee. The first ejected player then returned and ordered everyone to film the referee with a smartphone. Moments later, the player who had been sent off a few minutes earlier returned to the pitch and elbowed the referee in the jaw.
Forced to end the match, the young woman then went to take refuge in the dressing room... This is an extremely negative scene for the image of amateur football and French football more widely. A commission from the French Football Federation (which is also facing accusations of racism) will soon judge the case, and serious sanctions are expected.
