Chafni continues to show his frustration after being sent off by Chapron (second from right, with face partially hidden)
The French football league (LFP) has opened an inquiry after claims from Morocco’s Kamel Chafni that a linesman racially insulted him during Auxerre’s 1-0 defeat at Brest on Saturday.
Chafni claimed assistant referee Johann Perruaux told him ‘get lost, Arab’.
The midfielder was then sent off after continuing to protest to the referee.
On Sunday, the LFP said its president Frederic Thiriez has ordered the inquiry “so that light is shed on this matter as quickly as possible.”
Thiriez took the decision after speaking with Auxerre president Gerard Bourgoin, league refereeing head Marc Batta and match referee Tony Chapron.
After Chafni reported the incident to Chapron, the Moroccan was booked and then sent off in the 55th minute for his continued protest.
“This matter must be cleared up. Some Brest players heard the same thing. So I don’t think it’s the player’s imagination,” Auxerre president Gerard Bourgoin was quoted as saying by L’Equipe on Sunday.
Perruaux (right), flanked by Chapron, is accused of racism by Chafni
Also speaking to the sports daily, Chafni said that when he told Perruaux he had failed to spot defender Gregory Lorenzi’s foul on forward Roy Contout, the linesman responded with a racial slur.
“There was a foul that wasn’t signalled, I went toward the assistant referee and told him that it wasn’t normal,” Chafni told L’Equipe. “He answered ‘Get lost, Arab.”‘
“I go to the field referee and I tell him what happened and he gives me a yellow card. I told him, repeated (to him) that it was unacceptable, and he shows me a red (card).”
The 29-year-old Chafni, who says he intends to file a complaint at his local police station, wants Perruaux to be punished.
“(I) want to go all the way with this. It’s serious, it goes beyond sport,” he said.
Chafni says that Contout, Brest forward Larsen Toure and Brest’s physiotherapist all heard Perruaux’s racial slur.
Referee Chapron denied his assistant had made a racial slur.
“I deny all allegations,” he told reporters after the game. “I know the man … and I can tell you that he would never make racist remarks.”
Brest won the match 1-0.