Referee Tony Chapron suspended until further notice after kicking Nantes´ Diego Carlos

The French Football Federation (FFF) has announced that referee Tony Chapron has been suspended until further notice and will face a disciplinary hearing after kicking out at and then sending off Nantes defender Diego Carlos.

In a bizarre incident towards the end of Nantes’ 1-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday, Carlos was running forward in support of a last-ditch counter-attack and collided with Chapron, who fell to the turf.

As he tumbled, the official kicked out at the Brazilian centre-back, who had already been booked, and appeared to catch him on the shin.

Carlos then protested as the official got to his feet but was met with a second yellow card.

Nantes president Waldemar Kita called for Chapron to be banned for six months, and on Monday the FFF announced that the official has been taken off his next scheduled game – between Angers and Troyes on Wednesday – and suspended until further notice, pending disciplinary proceedings from the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP).

“Following the incident at the end of the meeting between Nantes and PSG, involving the referee Mr Tony Chapron and the Nantes player, Mr Diego Carlos, the Technical Directorate of Arbitration and the Federal Committee of Arbitrators made the following decisions,” read an FFF statement.

“The withdrawal of Mr Tony Chapron, originally designated for the meeting between Angers and Troyes, for this Wednesday, January 17, until further notice.

“Mr Tony Chapron will be convened shortly by the LFP Disciplinary Commission.

“Mr Tony Chapron, after viewing the images, found that his fall was inadvertently induced. Accordingly, he informed the DTA that he had prepared a supplementary report to that effect for the LFP Disciplinary Commission.”