Liverpool manager Arne Slot may consider that he got off relatively lightly with his two-match ban for his clash with referee Michael Oliver after last month’s Merseyside derby.
That is nothing compared to the nine-month ban just handed out to Paolo Fonseca, the boss of Ligue 1 side Lyon, for confronting referee Benoît Millot after the official halted play while a possible penalty to Brest was considered in their recent league match.
Fonseca stuck his head in the face of the referee, who immediately brandished a red card. Now, Fonseca has been banned from accessing the team bench and the dressing rooms of match officials until November 30th and cannot even enter his own team’s dressing room or set foot on the pitch on matchdays until September 15th.
Lyon have said that they are exploring all avenues of appeal and that the punishment is too severe. They have also said they intend to stick with Fonseca, although it is hard to see how they can maintain that stance with a manager who may be forced to watch television matches or rely on various platforms’ live scores services.
Lyon’s next match is away to Nice on March 9th.
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