Mickaël Landreau, now a member of the Technical Directorate of Refereeing, denounced on Monday the comments made during the weekend in Ligue 1 by Medhi Benatia, the sports advisor of OM, and Eric Roy, the coach of Brest.
A reminder and a call for calm. Mickaël Landreau stepped up to the plate on Monday to defend Ligue 1 referees after a particularly eventful weekend. Like the referees’ union, the former goalkeeper, appointed this summer to the Technical Directorate of Refereeing (DTA), denounced Medhi Benatia’s comments on the sidelines of OM’s victory on the OL pitch, Sunday, at the end of the 5th day (2-3). The sports advisor of the Marseille club attacked Benoît Bastien, the Olympico referee, by insulting him at half-time, before questioning his integrity after the match on DAZN. The disciplinary committee of the Professional Football League will soon summon the former Moroccan defender after the intervention of the National Ethics Committee. Benatia risks a sanction.
“There are things that are unacceptable,” reacted Landreau, interviewed by Ouest-France as spokesperson for the DTA. “Going to touch men, that’s not possible. We can discuss a game situation, a decision. On the other hand, going to the integrity of the men and women referees, frankly… They remain human beings, with decisions that are sometimes not the right ones.”
“We all suffer from these behaviors”
The 45-year-old former goalkeeper, hired by the DTA as a “sports advisor for the tactical and technical preparation of referees”, added another layer on the L’Équipe channel: “These are unacceptable remarks. When you personally attack a referee or a decision to put a referee on, it’s not possible. We all suffer from the image of football today and all its behavior. For me, there is nothing positive. I’m not saying that Medhi can’t intervene. He has the right to intervene by saying: ‘We don’t agree with this or that decision’. But when you start naming people…”
Mickaël Landreau also regretted the vindictive outburst of Eric Roy, who felt that refereeing in Ligue 1 was not at the same level as that of the Champions League, after his exclusion during Brest-Toulouse (2-0). “He would have been excluded too if he had behaved the same way in the Champions League. What happened with Eric harms football and its image”, regretted the former PSG and Nantes goalkeeper to Ouest-France. “The DTA is very open to discussion. We have offered each club to be able to have this discussion, on our work wishes, the image of our Ligue 1, which is everyone’s responsibility. Brest is the only club that has not responded to our requests”.
