VIDEO: ‘If a player did that, he’d be banned for 10 matches!’ – Nantes players fume at referee kick

Nantes’ players have fumed at referee Tony Chapron after his actions in Sunday’s clash with Paris Saint-Germain.

With time running out in the game and the home side trailing 1-0 but piling pressure on the Ligue 1 leaders, Chapron was involved in a bizarre moment with home centre-back Diego Carlos. 

The defender inadvertently tripped the official up while trying to cover a break, yet the referee took exception to this action and seemed to kick out at him before sending him off and awarding PSG a free-kick.

“I don’t think Diego did it on purpose because he’s not a bad guy, and after the referee gets up and kicks out at him from the ground,” said midfielder Valentin Rongier after the match, almost laughing at the crazy situation.

“He dared to tell me that he slipped but I know he struck him.

“I know it’s difficult to referee, but they have to question themselves from time to time. If a player did that, we’d be banned for 10 matches. I hope the pictures speak for themselves.

“In addition to that, we had a goal unjustly disallowed for offside. It’s frustrating. It’s not easy to get a result against PSG and tonight we could have done it.”

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Team-mate Leo Dubois was more measured. 

“It’s a shame to talk about the referee, there are people more qualified than me to do it,” he said. “I’m just a player on the pitch, I don’t want to talk about it really. There will be enough people speaking about it.

“I was on the bench, so I saw it like you. I went to see the referee at the end of the match to ask him what happened. He said he was kicked. That’s not what I saw on the pictures.

“He’s an important player for us, so we will see what happens. If there’s logic, the card will be taken away.”

Club president Waldemar Kita described the situation as a “scandal” and “amateurism”. 

“All of Europe is laughing, it’s a joke,” he fumed.