Auxerre player accuses assistant referee of racist abuse

The French League (LFP) have opened an investigation into alleged racist remarks made by an assistant referee to AJ Auxerre midfielder Kamel Chafni at Stade Brest on Saturday.

“(LFP president) Frederic Thiriez has ordered an investigation so that the matter can be clarified as soon as possible,” an LFP statement said last night.

Moroccan Chafni claimed assistant referee Johann Perruaux told him ‘get lost, Arab’. Chafni reported it to referee Tony Chapron but was booked and then sent off in the 55th minute. “This matter must be cleared up. Some Brest players heard the same thing. So I don’t think it’s the player’s imagination,” said Auxerre president Gerard Bourgoin.

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“There is a foul that is not sanctioned, I got to the assistant referee to tell him it’s not normal,” added Chafni. “He answers: ‘Get lost, Arab.’ I go to the referee and I tell him what happened and he gives me a yellow card. I tell him it is unacceptable and he shows me a red card.”

Chapron denied the slur. “I know the man and I can tell you that he would never make racist remarks,” he told reporters. Brest won the match 1-0.

Meanwhile, former France international Jean Tigana has been appointed coach of Shanghai Shenhua in the the Chinese Super League. Tigana previously guided Fulham to promotion to the English Premier League but left Craven Cottage under a cloud in 2003.

Following a two-year spell at Besiktas, he took over at Bordeaux in 2010 to replace Laurent Blanc, but resigned last May 2011, citing verbal abuse aimed at his teenage daughter.

Fellow Frenchman Nicolas Anelka will play under Tigana and is due to arrive in China next month after leaving Premier League side Chelsea.