“We want to know what is said between the referee and the VAR”: Laurent Nicollin speaks on the controversy surrounding French refereeing

Laurent Nicollin estime que l’utilisation du VAR “diffère selon l’arbitre”. Midi Libre – JEAN-MICHEL MART

Comme la très grande majorité de ses homologues présidents de Ligue 1, le patron du MHSC s’inquiète du "niveau de l’arbitrage en France" et réclame davantage de transparence et de dialogue.

"It’is a cry of alarm". The dismissal of Stéphane Lannoy from his position as technical director of refereeing on March 13 lifted the veil on the increasingly strong recriminations of Ligue 1 clubs against the competition. with regard to French arbitration authorities. Since then, 17 of the 18 elite clubs have called for the departure of Antony Gautier, director of refereeing of the FFF. Like his fellow presidents, Laurent Nicollin is worried about the level of French whistles but also the lack of transparency, he confided on the sidelines of a major interview to be published in Midi Libre this Friday 29  March.

"We talked about interference from the clubs, it’s just an awareness, he explains after the demands of the clubs. This is a cry of alarm about the level of French arbitration. It would be good if the FFF also became aware of this." "The League gives 17 M€ per year for arbitration. I want to talk about interference, as President Aulas says, when you don't pay. This system lacks clarity through the choice of men."

"We do not understand the action of the FFF towards Lannoy"

"If (Stéphane) Lannoy has been dismissed from his position, it would be normal that the&amp ;rsquo;one of the leaders is also affected", he adds in reference to the continued employment of Antony Gautier, supposed to end the season by retaining his N.1 cap in arbitration, while donning that of his ex-colleague. "We do not understand the action of the FFF towards Lannoy, and its lack of reaction towards Gautier", continues Laurent Nicollin who calls for more dialogue. "It would be nice to talk. When this system was put in place, we were promised consultation and discussions."

In addition to the governance of arbitration, the revolt of Ligue 1 clubs targets questionable decisions and recourse to video assistance regularly causing controversies weekend after weekend. "We are not going to make a revolution now, but we want to prepare for next season. We don't want to stay with the same system. VAR must be a complementary tool for arbitration. Unfortunately, this differs depending on the referee", notes Laurent Nicollin.

"Referees specifically dedicated to VAR"

"We want to know what is said between the referee and the VAR", argues the one who is also the president of Foot Unis, a union of French professional clubs. "When there is Marseille-Nantes, when there are three hands on the same action, we would like to know why the referee does not whistle a penalty,< /em> he illustrates. At VAR, or the referee on the field, we want to know what their communication is."