Friday evening, after the defeat of OGC Nice on the pitch of Olympique Lyonnais (1-0), Jean-Pierre Rivère, the president of Nice, was very upset.
Annoyed by the decisions of Clément Turpin, the referee of the meeting, the businessman did not hesitate to strongly criticize him.
“At some point, he has to question himself,” Jean-Pierre Rivère declared at Prime Video.
I do not understand anything anymore.
It's serious not even being able to speak to a referee after a match, we are also players in the game. He says to me:
Don't touch me!
Don't point your finger at me!
I would like him to explain, but he is untouchable.
At some point he has to come back down.
The stakes are high.
When I saw that he was officiating this evening, I said to myself:
ouch ouch ouch.
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📍Press release
Let's be constructive in the service of Football pic.twitter.com/4JNFpIwZ28
— SAFE (@RefereesSAFE) February 17, 2024
“Defend referees unfairly attacked”
Statements which caused the union of elite football referees (SAFE) to react via a press release this Saturday.
“SAFE can only regret the ad hominem attacks against a colleague,” we can read.
As much as it seems completely normal for a club president to be able to give his opinion on the performance of a referee, it is simply unacceptable for him to attack the man.
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A solution to ease tensions: provide access to the referees' audio.
A solution that the union also advocates.
“Access to the sound of referees will allow decisions to be taught and will avoid unfounded criticism which harms the image of football,” he continues.
SAFE recalls the overwhelming wish of arbitrators to be able to provide access to their explanations of their decisions.
SAFE expects strong messages from football authorities to defend referees who are unfairly attacked and concrete progress.
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