The support for the referee, threatened and escorted, who officiated the final of the Greek Cup

The French referees’ union has today expressed its support for the Stephanie Frappartwas threatened and escorted by police on Saturday after the end of the Greek Cup in Volos, as his decisions angered the players and manager of Aris Thessaloniki.

“These attitudes once again show the greatest lack of respect and the most absurd negligence regarding the role of the referee, and the bias of the participants in this fight. There is still a lot of work. Well done Stephanie. supports the union of elite football referees (SAFE) on the social network X (formerly Twitter).

The first female referee in the Greek Cup final

Frappart, first woman to referee the final of a Greek Cup, sent off three players in the match, played behind closed doors and Panathinaikos won against Aris Thessaloniki (1-0), thanks to a goal scored by Georgios Vagiannidis when the added time (97′) expires.

Of the three expelled, one was from Panathinaikos, Giannis Kotsiras, in the 51st minute, for a double yellow, and two from Aris, the Czech Vladimir Darida in the 65th minute, also due to two warnings, and the Cameroonian Jean Juleswho saw a straight red card in the 71st minute.

The heavy defeat angered some Aris players and managers, forcing the French referee to leave the stadium under police escort.

“If the behavior of the losing team at the end of the match was not worthy of the values ​​​​of football, the lovers of our sport can be sure: everything went well for the referee team afterwards,” said SAFE in its statement.

A context of violence and corruption

In Greece, the appointment of foreign referees to high-risk matches has become commonplace in a context marked by violence and corruption in Greek football in recent times.

This season, the violence that shook the world of sports led the Greek authorities to order the closure of the league championships between December and February.

“The French referees were appointed at the request of the Greek Federation for complete neutrality, for a match to be held behind closed doors,” recalled the SAFE union.

“Without repeating the thread of the match, 4 important decisions were made and taken properly (all controlled and verified by VAR): 3 expulsions and the goal at the end of extra time was applied due to many stoppages in the game,” argued SAFE.

“What can we blame him for? Their work was done in a stormy context, impartially,” concluded SAFE, reaffirming its support for its affiliate.

Frappart, 40, is the first woman to referee the final stage of the men’s World Cup, in Qatar 2022, but she has not been selected for Euro 2024, which will be played from June 14 in Germany.