Lyon to sanction coach Fonseca after heated clash with referee

By: The Associated Press Posted: 11:36 AM CST Monday, Mar. 3, 2025

LYON, France (AP) — French club Lyon says it sanction Paulo Fonseca after the coach lost his temper and confronted a referee in an extraordinary outburst of rage during a league match at the weekend.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/03/2025 (562 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Fonseca was sent off deep in stoppage time during a 2-1 win against Brest for angrily reacting to a potential Brest penalty.

After receiving his red card, Fonseca confronted referee Benoît Millot and leaned in very close to his face before being pushed away by Lyon captain Corentin Tolisso. Fonseca tried to confront the referee a second time and was restrained by a couple of Lyon players.

Lyon's head coach Paulo Fonseca gives instructions to his players during the French League One soccer match between Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain at the Groupama stadium, outside Lyon, France, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

Fonseca has been summoned by the French league’s discipline committee and is facing a lengthy suspension.

Lyon general director Laurent Prud’homme said on Monday that Fonseca will be sanctioned by the club without elaborating.

“We are not proud of what he showed yesterday,” Prud’homme said. “It was a sudden outburst and that should not happen again, but he then apologized.”

The Portuguese coach apologized immediately after the game and Prud’homme said he also wrote to match officials to say sorry.

“We did not ask him anything, he did it on his own,” Prud’homme added.

Millot said Fonseca’s behavior was unacceptable.

“He rushed toward me with an intimidating attitude and I decided to send him off directly,” he told sports daily L’Équipe. “There was, it seems, a slight contact with the nose. (It was) a particularly intimidating, aggressive attitude, which one can hardly imagine from a professional coach.”

This incident came after Marseille president Pablo Longoria accused French referees of “ true corruption ″ following a defeat last month. Longoria was given a 15-match ban.

Fonseca was hired by Lyon at the end of January as a replacement for Pierre Sage.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer