Ligue 1: Flat tires for Auxerre-OM referee, investigation opened

This Auxerre-OM match is definitely causing a lot of talk. Referee Jérémy Stinat , criticized after the Auxerre-Marseille match (3-0) in Ligue 1, filed a complaint after finding the tires of his vehicles punctured at his home in the Landes, as indicated on Tuesday by the public prosecutor's office which, "as it stands", does not mention a "proven link" with his profession. The gendarmerie opened an investigation on Sunday for "damage to a vehicle", Benoît Fontaine, public prosecutor in Dax, told AFP, confirming information from the sports daily L'Équipe. "Assuming that they were characterized, (these damages) do not present a proven link with Mr. Stinat's professional activity", however, the magistrate stressed.

The tires of Jérémy Stinat's two vehicles were punctured "before the match" Auxerre-Marseille, declared the president of the French Football Federation (FFF) Philippe Diallo in the columns of L'Équipe. "His wife noticed it when she was about to take the highway," the manager specified.

After OM's heavy defeat at Auxerre (3-0), Marseille sports advisor Fabrizio Ravanelli described the refereeing as "scandalous", contesting in particular the exclusion of defender Derek Cornelius for a second warning. Furious, Marseille president Pablo Longoria had, for his part, declared: "This is real corruption!" while passing in front of journalists in the corridors of the Abbé-Deschamps stadium. Comments which sparked an intense controversy and pushed the Spanish leader to make his mea culpa on Monday in an interview given to AFP.

Before the match, OM had publicly regretted that Jérémy Stinat was appointed for this match. He was the fourth referee of the Coupe de France match against Lille, which had earned the director of football Medhi Benatia a three-month suspension.