Outspoken Toulon owner and club president Mourad Boudjellal was handed a 130-day ban on Thursday after using lurid language to describe the level of refereeing in a recent Top 14 game.
Boudjellal made the remarks on January 8 following Toulon’s defeat at Clermont, claiming his side had been “sodomised by the referees”.
France’s National Rugby League (LNR) took exception to his remarks and on Thursday announced it had handed Boudjellal a ban that will see him unable to work as the club’s president until June 3.
Boudjellal, who made his fortune in comic books, has the right to appeal the LNR decision.
The decision means Boudjellal will be “forbidden entry to official match (including before and after the matches) venues, to the changing rooms (teams and referees) as well as the corridors leading to these zones”, according to an LNR statement.
Last week the French Rugby Referees Union (UNAR) threatened to sue Boudjellal for defamation after the remarks.
Boudjellal replied to the threat, saying: “I am not surprised that they are attacking me. With what they are paid, they need the money.”
© AFP 2012Recommend this story.
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The Crowd Says (13) | Page 1 of Comments
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- Mourad Boudjellal, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Toulon
January 27th 2012 @ 10:03am
Bayxxx said | January 27th 2012 @ 10:03am | Report comment
Whilst the language and expression were inappropriate, I think that the point needs to be made that he is advocating that refs need to be properly paid and more professional.
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January 27th 2012 @ 10:18am
kovana said | January 27th 2012 @ 10:18am | Report comment
What a rubbish decision.
Say no to free speech it is then?
January 27th 2012 @ 11:56am
Gerard said | January 27th 2012 @ 11:56am | Report comment
watched the game and Toulon did not get the decisions at all. Ulster were worse treated in the h-Cup though. Must be the Clermont atmosphere
January 27th 2012 @ 12:18pm
Wally James said | January 27th 2012 @ 12:18pm | Report comment
Of course there is no such thing as free speech. Each country has its own laws as to that. Most countries have, for example, defamation laws limiting what people can say without penalty. Free speech does not exist and never has except in USA court dramas.
This decision however has nothing to do with the false assumption of free speech. Each sport attempts to regulate its participants from bringing the game into disrepute. They do so by prohibiting unwarranted abuse of fellow participants, in this case refs.
Boudjella’s comments were extreme and uncalled for. They brought the game into disrepute by the use of vitriol instead of rational and reasonable comment. If he wants change in refs he is not gong to get it by that sort of vicious attack. Honey attracts more flies than vinegar. Good on the judiciary I say.
January 28th 2012 @ 12:39am
Ben S said | January 28th 2012 @ 12:39am | Report comment
Well said, Wally James.
January 27th 2012 @ 1:07pm
kingplaymaker said | January 27th 2012 @ 1:07pm | Report comment
Absurd decision.
A small punishment would have been justified, but a vast, 130 day penalty for a man who has ploughed millions into French rugby is a disgrace.
January 27th 2012 @ 5:17pm
Gatesy said | January 27th 2012 @ 5:17pm | Report comment
Yeah!! …Rugby has at last been affected by Political Correctness! …what is the world coming to? You can butt heads to your heart’s content on the paddock, but not, apparently off it.
I would think that most rugby supporters would applaud what Mourad said – most of us have thought it, said it quietly but , but rarely overtly and it was only a matter of time before the good old alickadoos came out of the woodwork.
Crawl back into your holes, I say!
Let the fresh air in the door!
Referees should be seen and definitely not heard.
The reason that we call them referees and not umpires is founded in the history of our game when there was no 31st man on the field. The captains sorted out any disputes and if there was a well hung parliament they went to the sideline and referred it to someone, usually the local vicar or someone of importance – hence the term “referee”.
I know we can’t ever get back to those halcyon days, but let’s go back as far as we can.
I remember a story I once heard – in a game in which there was a lot of chatter going on, the ref (as he was packing a scrum) said: ” ….seems like there are a lot of comedians on the field today…” – from deep inside the front row the retort was: ..”yeah, ref, and you definitely haven’t made the top ten!….”
January 29th 2012 @ 4:57pm
sledgeandhammer said | January 29th 2012 @ 4:57pm | Report comment
“A well hung parliament..” the mind boggles.
January 27th 2012 @ 10:27pm
enzopitek said | January 27th 2012 @ 10:27pm | Report comment
As a french, I can give some explanations.
This decision is not a decision from the official justice but from the french national league (LNR) which is allowed to organise the professional rugby competitions in France.
The different clubs doesnt have the same interests in the LNR.
Toulon, Stade Francais, Clermont and Toulouse have a very commercial and global view about rugby.
Teams like Agen, Castres (the chief of the LNR comes from this club ) or Brives are located in small cities and economically they cannot follow the clubs located in big cities.
Toulon is, for example, located 30 kms from Marseille the second city in France.
In fact, the fight between Pierre-Yves Revol (LNR) and Boudjellal (Toulon) is a fight between the conservatives and the moderns who see the professional rugby as a buisness and not as a part time.
January 27th 2012 @ 10:59pm
Johnno said | January 27th 2012 @ 10:59pm | Report comment
more nanny state behaviour what is the world coming too, it’s as if democracy and free speech on a global level is being lost, and this new world order of repression by corporations in sports, banks, and politics are repressing citizens, very pathetic and sad.
I hope Toulon appeal this draconian undemocratic decision.
January 28th 2012 @ 9:22am
peterlala said | January 28th 2012 @ 9:22am | Report comment
Unbelievable.
Though this is not the point, what would happen if Mourad Boudjellal took his money and went home?
Thanks for your insights enzopitek. Would love to know more about the structure and nature of French rugby.
January 28th 2012 @ 9:20pm
Ben S said | January 28th 2012 @ 9:20pm | Report comment
Who gives a flying monkey what would happen if Boudjellal took his money away? What has he done for rugby or French rugby?
January 29th 2012 @ 4:59pm
sledgeandhammer said | January 29th 2012 @ 4:59pm | Report comment
Objectively speaking refereeing is terrible in Top 14, perhaps he was penalised for telling the truth?