This is enough to draw a line under this controversy. The French Football Federation (FFF) published its traditional refereeing debrief on Monday, for the 16th day of Ligue 1. The parent body of French football returned to the action which had created controversy during the match played in advance between Monaco and PSG on December 18 at the Louis-II stadium (2-4).
Just after the first quarter of an hour, François Letexier decided not to exclude the Monegasque Wilfried Singo, although he had already been warned of a yellow card, after a huge sole on the face of Gianluigi Donnarumma. Completely scarred on the left cheek, the Italian goalkeeper was treated by having staples placed directly on the pitch.
An extremely dangerous gesture, although involuntary, which had caused talk even in the international sphere. After an in-depth analysis, the federation finally decided to publicly judge its referees: the Ivorian defender should have been excluded by the one who was named best referee in the world in 2024.
“This situation is very difficult to judge, between recklessness, lack of intentionality, lack of consideration and endangering the physical integrity of the goalkeeper,” believes the FFF, then invoking law 12 of the laws of football. Analyzing the images, the attacker certainly plays the ball, but his action endangers the physical integrity of the goalkeeper, given the sole directly impacting the latter's face (…). The intervention of the video assistance was expected to modify the initial decision and exclude the offending player. »
In an analysis delivered on Canal +, Mickaël Landreau, the former goalkeeper and spokesperson for the Technical Refereeing Department, had already explained that Mr. Letexier should have issued a red card.
The 3F also revealed, as is customary, the images from the VAR truck and especially the exchanges between the video referees and the central referee which allow a better understanding of the final decision. “I won’t send you (to review the footage). There is no extra movement, he wants to avoid it, he jumps over it. Unfortunately, he hits it… The consequences are enormous, of course, but there is nothing we can do,” analyzes Jérôme Brisard at the time.
A decision which did not prevent PSG from winning in Monaco subsequently (2-4), then repeating its performance in Doha (Qatar) two weeks later for the Champions Trophy (1-0) , this time without Wilfried Singo, suspended for an accumulation of yellow cards.
