Ligue 1: Flat tires for Auxerre-Marseille referee, investigation opened

Referee Jeremy Stinat, criticized after the Auxerre-Marseille match (3-0) in Ligue 1, filed a complaint after finding the tires of his vehicles punctured at his home in the Landes, the prosecutor's office said on Tuesday, which, "as it stands" , does not mention any "proven link" with his profession. The gendarmerie opened an investigation on Sunday for "damage to a vehicle" , Benoît Fontaine, public prosecutor in Dax, told AFP, confirming information from the sports daily L'Équipe .

"Assuming they were characterised, (these degradations) do not present any proven link with Mr Stinat's professional activity" , the magistrate nevertheless stressed. The tyres of Jérémy Stinat's two vehicles were punctured "before the match" between AJA and OM, declared the president of the French Football Federation (FFF) Philippe Diallo in the columns of L'Équipe . "His wife noticed it when she was about to take the motorway" , the manager specified.

Jérémy Stinat was heavily criticised by Olympique de Marseille's management following the heavy defeat suffered on Saturday evening in Auxerre, with sports advisor Fabrizio Ravanelli describing his refereeing as "scandalous" . OM particularly contested the exclusion of defender Derek Cornelius for a second warning.

Furious, Marseille president Pablo Longoria shouted "This is real corruption!" as he passed journalists in the corridors of the Abbé-Deschamps stadium, remarks that sparked intense controversy and prompted the Spanish leader to make his mea culpa on Monday in an interview with AFP.

Before the match, OM had publicly regretted that Jérémy Stinat was appointed for this match. He was the fourth referee of the Coupe de France match against Lille, which had earned the football director Medhi Benatia a three-month suspension . Jérémy Stinat (46 years old), a former professional player trained at the Girondins de Bordeaux and who notably played for Laval, Sedan and Grenoble, began his career as a whistler in 2012, becoming in 2016 the first former professional player to officiate as a referee in the elite.

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