7-game ban for player who pushed referee

PARIS: Ajaccio’s Mathieu Coutadeur was banned for seven matches by French football chiefs on Thursday for pushing the referee in his team’s stormy play-off win over Le Havre, a game overshadowed by four red cards and an attack on the visiting team’s bus.

Coutadeur’s sanction for man-handling referee Frank Schneider was the heaviest following the Ligue 2 promotion play-off in Corsica last Sunday which ended 2-2 at the end of extra time before Ajaccio claimed a dramatic 5-3 win on penalties. His teammate Joris Sainati was handed a two-game ban with one suspended while Le Havre striker Jean-Philippe Mateta, who was also red-carded for a provocative goal celebration, was banned for one match. Defender Denys Bain will sit out three games.

The play-off should have taken place last Friday but was put back after fans of the Corsican club attacked the Le Havre team bus. Players and officials from Le Havre were subjected to racist abuse, called “shitty French” and, according to videos circulating on social media, sat in terror inside the team bus as it was hit by stones and other projectiles.