Gelson Martins will not be playing this season. The Portuguese midfielder from Monaco was suspended six months Thursday by the disciplinary committee of the Professional Football League (LFP) for having jostled the referee during his team's match in Nîmes on February 1. “After examining the file and hearing the player, the committee decided to sanction Gelson Martins with a firm suspension of six months. This decision takes effect from February 6, 2020, "the LFP announced in a statement.
The player's apologies
The Monegasque was suspended on a conservatory basis since February 6. Frustrated by the exclusion of his partner Tiémoué Bakayoko at the half-hour mark, Gelson Martins came to shake up the referee Mickaël Lesage. Expelled in turn for this gesture of humor, the Portuguese international had then reoffended, pushing with both arms the director of the game, at chest level.
The 24-year-old had then apologized on social media for his "thoughtless attitude", defending himself from being "aggressive". His gesture triggered many reactions in the soccer world, up to the president of the FFF Noël Le Graët who called to "firmly repress" this kind of act.
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Those who know me know that throughout my career, I have always had respect for everyone: colleagues, opponents, supporters and referees, on and off the pitch. I am not aggressive, I have never been aggressive with anyone. Today, after reflection, I think I have to apologize for my thoughtless and warm-blooded attitude. I apologize in particular to the referee Mikael Lesage, but also to my colleagues and our supporters. . Quem me conhece sabe que em toda a minha carreira semper tive por princípio respeitar todos - desde os meus colegas, adversários, adeptos e árbitros - fora de campo e dentro de campo, onde nunca fui nem sou aggivo com ninguém. Sinto que devo pedir desculpa por uma atitude irrefletida e feita de cabeça quente. Peço desculpa, em especial ao Sr. árbitro Mikael Lesage, mas também aos meus colegas de equipa e aos nossos adeptos.
A post shared by Gelson Martins (@ gelsondany77) on Feb 2, 2020 at 1:21 pm PST
In its article 10, the "reference scale" of the FFF mentions the case of a "voluntary pushing" as being "the fact of coming into physical contact with a person by carrying out a pushing likely to make him move back or fall" . This text recommends a suspension of eight months when a player is guilty of this gesture during a meeting on an "official" (referee or delegate).
The Monaco club reacted to this sanction in a press release in which it regretted "the excessive duration" of the sanction. "If the club once again condemns the unjustifiable behavior of its attacker, it regrets the excessive length of this suspension, for a player who has never known a disciplinary gap in more than 200 games at the highest level," said the press release. .
Reaction of AS Monaco following the suspension of its player Gelson Martins.https: //t.co/zfikL8Ak7A
- AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) March 5, 2020Despite the length of the sanction, the Principality club will not appeal, we learned from internal sources at the club. "His attitude is neither acceptable nor forgivable," said Monegasque Vice President Oleg Petrov, who said: "He will be strongly penalized. And for my part, I'm going to make sure that an attitude like that doesn't happen again. ”
At his pre-match press conference against Nice, Monaco coach Robert Moreno said the player would continue to train with the club's first team while suspended. "The situation is difficult," said Moreno. But he will stay with the team. Having him work alone will be very difficult. It is a question of psychology and respect. He trains well. We have to help him, even if he doesn't do tactical training to prepare for a match, ”he explained.
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