Lens-Auxerre: Refereeing Authority Confirms Lens Penalty Was Unjustified

The French Football Federation’s Refereeing Authority has officially acknowledged that a penalty awarded to RC Lens during their commanding 5-2 victory over AJ Auxerre on Saturday in Ligue 1’s opening round should not have been given. The error by referee M. Vernice, which was not corrected by VAR, is now on record — though the result stands unchanged.

The incident occurred in the 10th minute. Following a free kick cleared by Auxerre’s defence, Lens player Ismaëlo Ganiou and Auxerre’s Arthur Piedfort found themselves in a duel, both holding each other by the arm. The ball touched Piedfort’s hand, and the referee immediately pointed to the penalty spot.

In its weekly debrief, the Refereeing Authority was unambiguous: “The contact provoked by Lens player Ismaëlo Ganiou at the level of Auxerre player Arthur Piedfort’s arm is at the origin of the movement that led the Belgian’s hand toward the ball.” It recalled that Law 12 only sanctions a handball offence when a player deliberately touches the ball or artificially increases the surface covered by their body. However, Piedfort no longer controlled his arm’s movement, as it was being held by his opponent. “The handball offence is therefore not established and the penalty is not justified,” the authority concluded, adding that “the video referee should have recommended a review so that the central referee could cancel the penalty”.

The Refereeing Authority did, however, validate the red card issued to Christ Makosso for a foul on Abdallah Sima, ruling it justified.

These weekly debriefs aim to clarify the application of the rules and promote greater consistency in decision-making. They carry no disciplinary weight: RC Lens’s 5-2 victory, coming a week after their success against PSG in the Trophée des Champions, is definitively confirmed.