Pascal Garibian, landed on November 10 from his post of technical director of arbitration (DTA) under pressure from the clubs, finally has a successor.
The Executive Committee of the FFF, meeting this Friday, appointed Antony Gautier as the new director of arbitration.
He will be supported by Stéphane Lannoy, appointed technical director in charge of professional refereeing, Stéphanie Frappart, appointed technical director in charge of women's refereeing, and Alain Sars, technical director in charge of amateur refereeing.
Aged 45, Antony Gautier has led 263 Ligue 1 matches and 58 international matches.
This lecturer in mathematics at the University of Lille, former Sports Assistant of Martine Aubry, was elected mayor of Bailleul (North), on July 3, 2020.
During the truce linked to the World Cup, four candidates (Gautier, Lannoy, Alain Sars and Saïd Ennjimi) were auditioned by a jury comprising five members of the federal Comex, including Jean-Michel Aulas and Marc Keller, respective presidents of the clubs of Lyons and Strasbourg.
The project presented by Gautier, with particular attention paid to women's football, had enabled it to win the majority of votes, according to one of the participants.
In a press release, the union of elite football referees (SAFE) was satisfied with this appointment: “Antony Gautier can count on the SAFE and the referees of the professional sector that it represents to be a source of constructive proposals, as it has always been, and to support the reforms expected by the authorities and referees in the service of football.
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