Halilhodzic banned for four matches, Tabibou red card overturned
The LFP disciplinary panel met in emergency session on Tuesday afternoon to deal with one issue only: the dismissal and conduct of Vahid Halilhodzic during Nantes-Brest (1-1) last Sunday. The verdict was clear for the Nantes boss: four matches on the sidelines. He will miss Wednesday’s trip to the Parc des Princes against PSG, plus the next three fixtures. It’s a hefty punishment, but it still leaves him free to sit on the bench for the final Ligue 1 game on 17 May, when Toulouse visit.
It all started with the red card shown to his defender Dehmaine Tabibou, after a VAR review by referee Guillaume Paradis. That decision sent Halilhodzic over the edge. He was seen getting physical with fourth official Florent Batta, and had to be pulled away by his own player Chidozie Awaziem. He then turned his anger on the match referee, repeating to him seven times: “Aren’t you ashamed?”
Post-match outburst only made things worse
Halilhodzic did not stop there. Speaking to Ligue1+ straight after the game, still boiling over, he gave comments that almost certainly did him no favours in front of the panel. “I’m angry, I don’t understand this red card,” he said, before going straight at the referee. “He’s a young referee, he told me: ‘Don’t talk too much because you could still be suspended.’ But I don’t care, they can ban me for 10 years if they want because I’m done with football. When I see injustices like that, I react. Who does this man think he is?” Strong words, blurted out in the heat of the moment, and they hardly helped a situation that was already messy.
Halilhodzic defended himself by video link before the commission, on the eve of the PSG game, but he could not shift the needle on his own punishment. There was better news for Nantes, though: Dehmaine Tabibou’s red card was overturned. The defender will therefore be available for Wednesday’s trip to the Parc des Princes.
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