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The UNECATEF, the French manager’s union, have released a statement this afternoon defending Metz manager Frédéric Antonetti after his sending off at the end of the 0-0 result against Lille last night for fighting with Lille’s Sylvain Armand.
Antonetti had reacted after the game defending his actions and laying the blame on the Lille management for entering his technical area during the game.
“YES he is hot-headed, YES he is under pressure, YES the sense of injustice with him is often thin-skinned, YES he can’t stand provocation, YES sometimes he forgets that he is representing his bench, YES his reactions are sometimes excessive but Fred Antonetti has been working for decades and even back in the day we weren’t caged in our technical area.”
“We have put a lion in cage and then we’ve gone and wound him up. Can we silently accept pressure from the opposition on the referee in a tense match that could decide the fate of a season?”
