It was initially planned that Jérémie Pignard would referee the match between Rennes and Brest, in Ligue 1 (this Sunday, at 5:05 p.m.). But this afternoon, the authorities of the French championship confirmed in a press release that a new arbitration body has been appointed for this Breton derby, in a context of strong protests against arbitration decisions in France.
Jérémie Pignard’s refereeing during the match between Marseille and Nice (2-2) was the talk of the week. The latter, as well as his assistants, initially scheduled for this match on the 31st day, would therefore have paid the price for this little controversy. Jérémie Pignard is thus replaced by Benoît Bastien as main referee, and who will be supported by Hicham Zakrani and Aurélien Berthomieu.
“The change of referee? It’s not neutral”
Asked to react to this news at a press conference, Stade Rennais coach Julien Stéphan believes that this decision is not trivial. “It’s not neutral. I don’t know why exactly, if it’s related to the last match or not. I note that we had Madame Frappart in Monaco (Sunday April 7, during the 28th day of Ligue 1) who also had a difficult match before this meeting (Lyon – Valenciennes five days before, in the Coupe de France) , and that there had been no change. »
Invited to take part in the debate on the level of championship referees, the latter was conciliatory: “I don’t think the level of refereeing is bad, honestly. There may be conditions that are not optimal for them today, but I don’t have all the elements. We have no control over that, and we arrive at a moment in the championship where it is essential to focus on the elements that we can control. What we can control is us, our matches, our energy, our intensity, our activities, our choices…”
Refereeing errors simulated in training
However, the Rennes technician subsequently delivered an anecdote on the mental preparation of his players for unfavorable, even contentious, refereeing decisions: “Regularly, for two or three weeks, we have tried to recreate conditions, with numerical superiorities and inferiorities, where the players must react and control themselves. » To the point of whistling non-existent faults, assured the latter: “We sometimes take players out of training for a few minutes, and the team has to manage the numerical inferiority. We try to script match moments. » Proof that the tensions around refereeing largely affect the way clubs approach their matches in the French championship.
