Monaco defender Benjamin Mendy has been suspended for five matches by Ligue 1’s disciplinary committee after he was sent off in the 3-1 home defeat to Olympique Lyonnais on Sunday, his club said on Friday.
The 22-year-old, who served the first match of the ban in Monaco’s 2-1 win over Caen on Wednesday, was dismissed in the first half after lashing out at Olympique midfielder Corentin Tolisso.
Monaco are second in Ligue 1, two points behind leaders Nice.
Mendy was criticised by his own coach Leonardo Jardim for the sending-off. “The referee was right, Benjamin made a mistake,” he said. “I’ve discussed it with him. He has to keep a cool head if he wants to play at a high level.”
FFF ask AS Monaco club Vice-President Vadim Vasilyev to explain Lyon outburst
The president of Olympique Lyonnais did not appreciate the controversial comments on behalf of his club and himself from Vadim Vasilyev after the match of Ligue 1 on Sunday night at the Louis II.
Vadim Vasilyev will answer before the French Football League’s Disciplinary Commission next month to explain his claims Lyon influence referees.
Vadim Vasilyev initially made the allegations following Lyon’s 3-1 Ligue 1 win over his club on the 18 of December.
Following a meeting of the Disciplinary Commission on Thursday the 22d , the LFP published a list of sanctions on its official website, and stated that Vasilyev would be summoned to explain his “postmatch declarations” at their sitting on Jan. 12.
“I wanted to denounce a particular context around Lyon matches which do not favour calmness,” Vasilyev had told L’Equipe. “It’s the context around Lyon matches I denounce. I’m not the first to do it, a lot of people have talked about that before me.”
Monaco had full-back Benjamin Mendy sent off during the first half of the game at the Stade Louis II, while Lyon were later awarded a penalty.
On Thursday the 22d, the Commission gave Mendy a four-game ban for the incident which led to his red card.
Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas reacted angrily to the accusations, and called on the LFP and the French Football Federation (FFF) to act.
“It’s an extremely serious outburst that casts suspicion on our club and French refereeing,” he told OLTV earlier this week.
“These thoughts are absolutely unjustified and are damaging to us. They must be very quickly countered by the [FFF] and the [LFP] without which people could consider their legitimacy.”
