Nnadi and Maupay handball incidents not sanctioned: Refereeing Board backs Turpin after OM-Le Havre

The Refereeing Board threw its support behind Clément Turpin on Wednesday, three days after Marseille’s 4-3 victory over Le Havre in Matchday 8 of Ligue 1, by validating his two refusals to award penalties for Marseille handball in the closing stages of the match at the Vélodrome.

Both incidents had cast doubt across the entire stadium as Marseille, leading 4-0 entering the final quarter-hour, saw Le Havre pull back to 4-3. The first suspicion involved contact from Tochukwu Nnadi; the second concerned a handball by Neal Maupay, deemed more obvious by observers.

On the Nnadi case, the Refereeing Board stated that “analysis of the images does not allow establishing with certainty the existence of any possible contact between the ball and the defender’s arm, nor, if applicable, its punishable nature”, with the referee having identified contact with the chest.

Regarding Maupay, the institution believes that “the Marseille player plays the ball with his foot before it accidentally rebounds onto his right hand, kept in a natural position”, adding that “no clear hand movement allows establishing an intention to deliberately touch the ball”. The contact is therefore deemed non-punishable under the Laws of the Game.

Havre manager Didier Digard had not hidden his frustration after the match, regretting the lack of discernment and pedagogy from the officials, while choosing not to dwell further on the subject to avoid harming his club. The Refereeing Board’s response officially closes the matter, though it does not dispel doubts on the Normandy side.