Two sensational exits after the controversy

After the heavy defeat of OGC Nice against Olympique Lyonnais (1-4), coach Franck Haise and sports director Florian Maurice strongly criticized the arbitral decisions, judging them “very very bad” and going up to “go beyond the limits”.

Franck Haise taken aback by the referee

Franck Haise showed himself to be totally disconcerted by the choices of referee Bastien Dechepy. He denounced the fact that some “micro-faults” were whistled while other contentious actions, such as a potential penalty in favor of Nice, were not sanctioned. The Nice coach also questioned the use of VAR, judging “crystal clear” that his team should have benefited from a penalty. Despite his incomprehension, Haise tried to stay calm to avoid further suspension.

Florian Maurice denounces a “complete hiccup”

Sports director Florian Maurice also strongly criticized the arbitration decisions, describing the situation as “scandalous”. He particularly pointed out the fact that the referee and the VAR refused to award a penalty in favor of Nice even though the images showed, according to him, a “obvious fault”. Maurice felt that the Aiglons were not not benefited from arbitration lately and that the mistakes made during this match have “exceeded the limits”.

A defeat difficult to digest

Beyond the arbitration controversies, the heavy defeat conceded to Lyon (1-4) obviously remains a hard blow for OGC Nice. Despite their dissatisfaction with the refereeing, Haise and Maurice will have to quickly plan for the next matches in order to revive their team.