Paulo Fonseca has only taken charge of five Lyon matches since joining the club in January
Lyon manager Paulo Fonseca has been suspended from conducting his matchday duties for almost nine months for angrily confronting a referee.
Fonseca, 51, was sent off and pushed his face towards official Benoit Millot during Lyon’s 2-1 win over Brest on 2 March.
In a statement on Wednesday, the French Professional Football League said the Portuguese boss would be barred from accessing the bench, the officials’ dressing rooms, and carrying out any official functions before, during, or after matches until 30 November
The punishment also prevents him from going to the team dressing room, pitch, tunnel and corridors leading to those areas until 15 September.
Fonseca, who apologised after the incident, only took charge of Lyon on 31 January after leaving AC Milan the previous month.
He was sent off after a review of a potential penalty for Brest – which was not awarded – for his “intimidating attitude”, according to Millot.
Fonseca had to be pulled away from the referee by his Lyon players
“He jumped at me with an intimidating attitude, and I decided to send him off directly. It continued to spiral out of control,” Millot told French sports newspaper L’Equipe on Monday.
“He had an even more intense attitude, attempting to deliver a blow, in fact. A headbutt. I didn’t even have time to announce the final decision, which turned out to be not awarding a penalty.
“There seemed to be a slight contact of the nose, to be precise.”
Last week, the French referees union said its members would exercise their right to withdraw if they or their families are put at risk after a match official faced an “outpouring of hate” following comments by Marseille president Pablo Longoria.
Local media reported that Longoria had objected to the appointment of referee Jeremy Stinat for their league game against Auxerre on 22 February, which Marseille lost 3-0.
Longoria said the defeat was down to “true corruption” and expressed his anger over the red card shown to defender Derek Cornelius, for which the president subsequently received a 15-match ban.
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