‘It will be long for him’ – Franck Haise on Paulo Fonseca’s ban as pair embrace in press box | OneFootball

Paulo Fonseca served the first game in his nine-month touchline ban during Olympique Lyonnais’ 2-0 victory away to OGC Nice. The Portuguese manager was handed the ban last week following a head-to-head confrontation with Benoît Millot.

Fonseca is banned from the touchline until the end of November and he isn’t even allowed into the dressing room until September. He is also forbidden from making any contact with his players and touchline staff before, during, and immediately after the match.

Franck Haise was also suspended from the touchline for the encounter. He was serving the second game in a three-match ban for using offensive language. The pair, rather than meeting on the touchline, instead embraced in the press box at the Allianz Riviera.

Speaking at a post-match press conference, attended by Get French Football News, Haise revealed what he said to Fonseca during the lengthy, warm embrace between the pair. “We said ‘Hello’, nothing much more, just banal things. We were happy to see each other because it had been a while. It will be long for him because it is long when you’re up there. You see the match well but you’re detached from the passion,” said the Nice manager.

Fonseca did not speak post-match. His post-match media duties were instead conducted by his assistant, Jorge Maciel.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle – reporting from Nice