17 Ligue 1 clubs demand immediate resignation of Antony Gautier, Director of Refereeing

Seventeen of the eighteen Ligue 1 clubs have demanded the resignation of Antony Gautier, the director of refereeing for the French Football Federation only days after he was appointed in the post. 

Almost all the clubs in Ligue 1 (the one absentee has not yet been disclosed) have demanded in an open letter to the federation that the interim director must resign immediately from a post he has occupied for little over a week. 

The Ligue 1 clubs are unsatisfied with the appointment of Gautier, who they believe representsno significant change from his predecessor, who was forced out of his role after a significant number of refereeing controversies and an accusation that he was too close with certain club presidents. As the letter states, “ Dialogue and trust are definitively broken. ”

The letter continues, “ The daily demands within the clubs must be shared by the third protagonist of the match: the refereeing and their assistants, on whom rest a predominant part in the quality and the result of a match .” Justifying their demand by pointing towards the €17 million contribution to the refereeing budget. 

The letter concluded with the wish to see “ the audits carried out by Ms Dominque Laurent and provided to the FFF, as well as the proposed measures which could serve as a basis for reflection, discussion, and development between all parties concerned and in particular a reorganisation and redefinition of the very ambiguous role of the Federal Commission of Referees .” 

GFFN | Nick Hartland