Video: French referee kicks player then sends him off

Referee Tony Chapron is the talk of French football this morning after he attempted to kick Nantes defender Diego Carlos and then sent him off.

Chapron and Carlos collided in the final moments of Nantes’ 1-0 defeat against Paris Saint-Germain. The official was sent tumbling and kicked out at the defender from the ground.

Booking Carlos for “dissent”, Chapron showed the Brazilian a second yellow before brandishing the red card.

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The BBC reports that Chapron has since been suspended “until further notice” by the French Football Federation. In a statement, the federation said: “The technical body for referees [DTA] and the federal commission of referees [has] decided on the withdrawal of Tony Chapron, who had been appointed for Wednesday’s Ligue 1 game between Angers and Troyes, until further notice.

“Mr Tony Chapron will shortly be called to meet the LFP [French football league] disciplinary committee. Mr Tony Chapron, after reviewing the images, stated that his fall was caused accidentally. He has informed the DTA that he has prepared a report to this effect for the LFP disciplinary commission.”

Nantes’ chairman Waldemar Kita called the decision to send off Carlos “scandalous”. Kita said: “I do not want to believe he did it on purpose. It’s a joke. I received 20 text messages from all over the world telling me that this referee is a joke.

“If I talk too much, I will be summoned by an ethics commission. We have no right to say anything.”

Angel di Maria scored the winner for PSG in the 12th minute to send the Paris giants 11 points clear at the top of the Ligue 1 table.