For his outburst against the referee during the match against Rennes (0-2) on 3 January, Lille president Olivier Létang has been suspended for more than two months by the LFP. The LOSC manager is paying the price for his increasingly controversial behaviour.
If you play with fire, you’ll get burned. The disciplinary committee of the Professional Football League reminded Olivier Létang of this by imposing a fairly heavy penalty on the Lille president.
Létang suspended until 31 March 2026
On Wednesday evening, the northern club’s manager was handed a firm suspension ‘before, during and after the match from the touchline, the officials’ changing rooms and all official functions, until 31 March inclusive, with the revocation of the current suspended sentence’ for his comments against the refereeing following the defeat against Rennes (0-2) on 3 January.
The League specifies that ‘until 15 February inclusive, this suspension will be accompanied, before, during and after the match, by a ban on access to the players’ changing rooms, the pitch, the tunnel and all corridors leading to these areas.’ The sanction will take effect from 20 January, after Friday’s Ligue 1 match against PSG.
A president who keeps putting his foot in it
During the match against Stade Rennais, defender Alexsandro’s sending off in the 13th minute angered Létang. Furious, he stormed onto the pitch and confronted referee Eric Wattellier in the tunnel leading to the changing rooms at half-time, shouting: ” You know what you’ve done! It’s a disgrace, a scandal!” This was one rant too many for the League.
The former sporting director of PSG and Rennes is a repeat offender. Last October, he was suspended for one match and given a two-match suspended sentence for his criticism after the defeat against Lyon (0-1). His excesses have also been evident on the European stage: in November, UEFA fined him €10,000 after the LOSC-PAOK match for trying to put pressure on the referee after a penalty was not awarded to Mathias Fernandez-Pardo, claiming that he had already warned UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin.
A tarnished image
Praised for the quality of his work at the helm of LOSC over the past five years, both in terms of sporting performance and the financial management of the club, Létang is nevertheless seeing his image increasingly called into question. His attitude is now attracting widespread criticism. Indeed, his impulsive reactions and repeated outbursts of anger have tarnished his reputation and undermined the credibility he had enjoyed with the public until then.
Last season, his behaviour at the end of the match in Marseille had already caused controversy. He was suspended for one month, plus a suspended sentence, by the FFF disciplinary committee, while OM sporting director Mehdi Benatia, who appeared less vehement in the images shown by the broadcaster, received a three-month suspension. This discrepancy in the sanctions surprised many people, and not just in Provence.
