Its catastrophic: Waldemar Kita deeply shocked by the four

After the announcement on Tuesday afternoon of the four-match suspension for Vahid Halilhodzic, FC Nantes president Waldemar Kita exclusively spoke to RMC Sport. The referee’s decisions had angered him on Sunday evening, and the mea culpa from Guillaume Paradis and today’s sanctions did not calm his anger as his team heads straight for Ligue 2.

“Waldemar Kita, what is your reaction to the Nantes-Brest match and the disciplinary commission’s decisions today?”

“I am deeply shocked by this decision of the disciplinary commission, which is a profound injustice to the club. FC Nantes is doubly victimized by a very serious refereeing error acknowledged by the referee himself. It is important. We can congratulate him for acknowledging it. When we look at the VAR video, we understand very well why they took so long. And I would say that they were almost not in agreement among themselves. But it is only one referee who ultimately makes the decision. The consequences are disastrous, truly disastrous for the club. This match was crucial, vital for us, for morale, but also obviously to stay in Ligue 1. And second injustice, the totally disproportionate sanction, I mean disproportionate, against the coach who has been given a four-match ban.”

“Do you find the sanction too severe?”

“We give him four matches because he touched the referee? Do you think he was going to fight with the 73-year-old referee? This way of touching is rather a Latin style. When we discuss with someone, we touch them by the arm, by the hand, there is no problem. It is truly disproportionate. Honestly, I am revolted, shocked, I want to say many things. But for now, I hold back. I believe that we should delve much more into the subject of refereeing, VAR, and the whole football. Because I find that there are certain things that are not right and we are not correcting ourselves. Because this is not the first time, let’s not forget. In a situation like this, the VAR should never have intervened. It is in the rule. It should not be forgotten that there is the club’s economy. There is the academy, there is the women’s team. There is the whole ensemble that we have been building for years… And it must also be understood that a coach who works all week and sees this, he is discouraged. It’s catastrophic. Catastrophic for him, catastrophic for everyone.”

“Do you intend to appeal this decision?”

“Of course, we would like to. But the championship ends in a month and a half. I appeal. What will it bring me? And you know what they say when you appeal? You get a double sanction. On the other hand, there are other things to do. I am working with lawyers on how we can help and delve deeper into this issue, which is still very serious.”

Propos recueillis par Pierre-Yves Leroux