Following PSG‘s 1-1 draw against Valenciennes, PSG Sporting Director Leonardo has got the Parisian club in a heap of trouble.
Ancelotti’s men are due to win the Ligue 1 title and they could’ve done so this weekend. However, after a controversial red card against Thiago Silva, PSG slumped to a draw.
After the match, Leonardo nudged the referee in the dressing room before being pulled away by the club president, Nasser Al-Khelaifi. This sparked a controversy and if the Brazilian is found guilty, he’ll have to face a disciplinary committee under the French Football Federation and could face a ban for a year, imprisonment for a maximum period of 6 months and the club, PSG, will have points docked, meaning the race for the title could still go down to the wire.
When asked about the incident, Leonardo said, “Nothing happened. I only spoke to him. Everyone was speaking to everyone, me too. I didn’t say anything in particular, but there’s always emotion,” Leonardo insisted to the press, before painting Castro as being unable to cope with such a high-profile match.
“You establish your authority through competence, not cards,” he said. “He’s a referee who’s had ten games this season, and given out 48 yellows and five reds. Today was a calm game and there were seven yellow cards and one red. What would he have done in a tense match? I don’t understand why a referee who’s only taken charge of nine games is picked for such an important game.”
Ligue 1 stats say that PSG have committed the second-least amount of fouls, 441, but have got the highest amount of red cards, 9.