Medhi Benatia faces 4-game ban after refereeing outburst | OneFootball

Medhi Benatia could face a four-game suspension following his criticism of Benoit Bastien’s refereeing performance after the match between Olympique Lyonnais and Olympique de Marseille on Sunday the 22nd of September.

The sporting director was highly critical of Bastien’s decision to award Leonardo Balerdi (25) with a second yellow card following the defender’s foul on Alexandre Lacazette (33) and he also took issue with the referee for awarding a penalty to Lyon arguing that there was an offside during the build-up.

At the microphone of DAZN, Benatia stated “We are worried when we see that it is Mr. Bastien who is going to referee us.” The former Moroccan international and Bayern Munich defender further stated “It’s serious, what happened is very serious… There are too many things that we can’t let go, the president can’t let this go, there are too many dubious things in this match.”

Benatia had escaped punishment on the 25th of September when the disciplinary committee met to discuss the weekend’s incidents, unlike Balerdi whose suspension will stand. However, La Provence notes that the sporting director was discussed at the meeting, and will be summoned for the next meeting on Wednesday the 2nd of October where he could face a ban for “disrespectful comments outside of a match.”

GFFN | Nick Hartland