The Disciplinary Commission of the LFP (the body that manages Ligue 1 and Ligue 2) met on Wednesday evening to make a decision regarding the behavior of Medhi Benatia, advisor to Pablo Longoria’s Marseille. During the match between Lyon and OM on 22 September, the former Juventus defender – among others – had verbally attacked the referee Benoît Bastien, who had sent off Leonardo Balerdi before the 5th minute of the game.
What happened. Precisely at half-time at the Olimpico between OL and OM, Benatia shouted: “Lacazette suffered a foul at the start. Two fouls by Balerdi and you give him the red card. Start respecting us. Don’t think people are crazy”, in the direction of the race director. After the match he then insinuated that he had orchestrated a plot against his club.
The sanction. “The commission considers that the comments made by Mr Benatia at half-time were inappropriate and, at the end of the match, offensive,” explained the president of the disciplinary body Sébastien Deneux. “They tended to call into question the integrity of Mr Bastien and, more generally, his club’s alleged biased treatment of him, despite the fact that Mr Benatia is an important figure for OM. He is therefore responsible for having violated the disciplinary regulations and the ethics charter on two occasions during the same evening, even if his disciplinary record is free of sanctions.”
All things considered, therefore, Benatia was suspended for the next three games. The former Bayern Munich defender was not physically present before the Disciplinary Commission, but was heard via videoconference. If he wishes, he can now appeal the decision to the FFF’s higher appeals commission, which is no longer considered lenient. Or contact CNOSF directly. But this might seem surprising, given that the penalty is quite measured.