The ruling
The refereeing directorate of the French federation closed the Auxerre file on Wednesday. Its verdict: Willy Delajod was right to award Le Mans their goal in the 1-1 draw at the Abbé-Deschamps in round eight of Ligue 1.
The referee’s watch vibrated to signal that the ball had fully crossed the line after Lucas Buades headed it and Danny Namaso diverted it into his own net. Replays suggested otherwise. The video assistants went through every available angle and found nothing that contradicted the signal. Delajod then checked the pictures himself at the side of the pitch and still could not say with certainty that the ball stayed out. The goal stood.
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A first for the technology in France
The directorate described the situation as exceptional. Auxerre’s complaint is about the system rather than the referee: the club has spoken of a computer problem and said sporting fairness was trampled. It is the first major failure of goal-line technology in France.
For Auxerre the cost is real. Cameron Archer pulled them level, but they could not follow up a first win in a row. Le Mans, for their part, climbed out of the relegation zone with seven points from eight matches.
The comparison being drawn is the Lucas Ocampos goal that was disallowed in an OM-OL game eleven years ago, when officials could not confirm the ball had crossed. This time the decision went the other way, and the evidence was a signal that nobody could overrule.
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