After his comments on the arbitration on the sidelines of Vannes – UBB, RCV coach Jean-Noël Spitzer should soon be summoned before the disciplinary committee. It was the French Rugby Federation which contacted the latter to denounce the coach's comments. He is not the first to be in this situation.
Refereeing is often, very often debated in rugby. Whether in a World Cup quarter-final or during a simple Top 14 match, the decisions made by match officials are often criticized by members of the losing team. This was the case during Vannes – UBB on Saturday evening. At the end of a match with an incredible scenario, in which the Girondins won after being led 29-0, Jean-Noël Spitzer presented himself angrily at a press conference. The RCV coach said: “It was obvious that the referee was going to change the cursor at the break. We are on Canal +, facing an opponent who is fighting for the title. He was going to rebalance things. It’s not the first time that we’ve been refereed like kids.”
The example Ronan O’Gara
These comments, widely relayed and commented on, were the target of the French Rugby Federation. Via a press release on Tuesday, the FFR denounced the Breton's statements, regretting their negative impact: “These comments affect the image of referees and the credibility of the refereeing body, which works tirelessly to guarantee the integrity and smooth running of sports competitions and to progress. The “Fédé” also announced having referred the matter to the LNR disciplinary committee“so that these inappropriate accusations can be investigated.” But what does Spitzer really risk? Difficult to know at present. So let's turn to a similar case which affected French rugby recently: that of Ronan O'Gara.
The FFR reacted to comments made by Vannes coach Jean-Noël Spitzer. The latter had strongly criticized Mr. Rousselet's refereeing during the match against UBB at La Rabine. The disciplinary committee has been referred
Full details here > https://t.co/6cEImw0MYE pic.twitter.com/mYLvRFTzLk
— RUGBYRAMA (@RugbyramaFR) https://twitter.com/RugbyramaFR/status/1861460567971484070?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
This is perhaps the closest thing to Spitzer's case. Ronan O'Gara is a regular on the disciplinary committee and has experienced several very varied sanctions. After receiving two weeks of suspensions for “action against a match official” (2021) and two other weeks for “indiscipline” (2022), the La Rochelle manager tasted more serious punishments. Following a Lyon – La Rochelle in 2022, he received a six-week suspension pour “disrespecting the authority of a match official”.
Above all, he was removed from the field for six weeks the same year, after having sent several particularly inappropriate messages to the boss of the referees Franck Maciello, to complain about the refereeing in harsh terms. “very unwelcome, to say the least”according to an internal source in the League. A fine of €20,000, of which €5,000 was suspended, was also sent to him. For this last sanction, the Irishman had been judged for a “behavior likely to harm the image, reputation or interests of rugby or its bodies.” Terminology which refers to the FFR press release, published Tuesday to discuss the Spitzer case. “These accusations against the refereeing body only harm the image of our sport.” the Federation wrote.
A liability that can be expensive
It therefore seems that the degree of Spitzer's sanction is decided based on the exact title of what he is accused of. Will he be judged for “indiscipline”, for “disrespecting the authority of a match official”, or for “behavior likely to harm the image, reputation or interests of rugby or its bodies” ? That is the whole question. We must also take the example of the Alexandre Ruiz case. The manager of Soyaux-Angoulême was pinned by the disciplinary committee in April 2024 after saying that the referee of the match against Grenoble had not “not been worthy”. Ruiz was found responsible for “action against a match official” and more particularly “disrespect the authority of a match official”. He was suspended for three weeks. Last case, that of Yannick Bru. In 2019, the former hooker was fined 1000 euros for “misconduct towards a match official”, after launching: “Video referees need to stop having drinks before matches.”
A vagueness therefore surrounds Spitzer's sanction, while the Vannes coach has another argument against him: like O'Gara at the time, he is already known to the disciplinary committee. In August, he had been sanctioned with a six-week suspension and a fine of 5,000 euros, due to “behavior having disrupted the smooth running of the control and procedure of the French Anti-Doping Agency”. Will this change anything? Impossible to say.
