Khaberni - The discipline committee of the Oise region in French football has imposed very severe penalties on a coach convicted of violent behavior during an under-18 match.
The French newspaper "Le Parisien" reported that the committee imposed a 20-year suspension on the coach of the "US Thurot Longue-Anil" team.
It explained that this penalty came after the conviction of coach Kevin Germainang for assaulting the match referee against "US Margny" which took place on October 18.
20-Year Suspension of the Coach
The mentioned match turned from a sharp dispute between the coach and the referee into a fistfight that included slaps, punches, and kicks.
The referee was violently assaulted by the coach of "US Thurot Longue-Anil," while several of his players tried to restrain him, after which chaos increased on the field as the coach attempted to slap the referee who tried to retaliate.
At that moment, several "Thurot" players attacked the referee with punches and kicks, while some players from Margny were beaten during their attempts to intervene and break up the fight.
The discipline committee convened on December 4 and then issued its penalties before two months had elapsed since the incident, specifically last Friday, December 12.
Besides suspending him for 20 years, the coach described as "the spark that ignited the brawl" will be banned from directly or indirectly participating in matches supervised by the competent bodies in the entire "Hauts-de-France" region until October 18, 2045.
The committee also decided to cancel his "football coach diploma" as well as withdraw his regional coaching license.
Further Penalties
At the same time, the committee imposed penalties on 8 of his team players: a 12-year suspension for two of them, and ten years for another, and two years for 3 players, in addition to suspensions of 10 or 5 matches for a number of them, according to "Le Parisien".
The committee also suspended the club president for a full year, fined "Thurot" club 1500 euros, and disqualified the under-18 team from competing for league and regional council cup titles.
Cedric Petrimo, president of the Football Association in "Hauts-de-France," commented on these penalties saying, "The moment a person or coach commits an assault on a referee, there is no place for them in football fields anymore. They are harsh penalties, yes, but nothing justifies violence on the fields."
On the other hand, the committee acquitted several Margny players who had been provisionally suspended and allowed them to return to competitions.
As for the referee, the committee decided to open an investigation with him due to his attempt to retaliate against the coach's assault, as he stated in his report, "I could not stand by idly, so I retaliated."
