Paris, 23 April 2005 — The French Football Federation (FFF) is appealing its decision to impose a three-month suspension on France international goalkeeper Fabien Barthez on the grounds that his spitting offense usually warrants a longer ban.

In a bizarre move the FFF announced in a statement that it was contesting its own disciplinary committee’s decision, pointing to its rules which state that a spitting offense against an official warrants a straight six month suspension, with none of the time suspended. The 33-year-old Barthez received the three-month suspension plus an additional suspended three-month ban for spitting at a Moroccan referee during a Feb. 12 friendly match in Casablanca between his club Olympique Marseille and the Moroccan side Wydad.

French Sports Minister Jean-Francois Lamour has described the three-month suspension as “lenient”.

“I was surprised by the punishment imposed by the disciplinary committee, a punishment that is lenient,” Lamour said hours after the suspension was announced. “Many people share the same opinion.”

Adding that referees must be respected, Lamour noted, “These three months of suspension are in reality only five matches (four French league games with his Marseille side and an international friendly against Argentina)... The meaning (of the judgment), whether one wants it or not, is powerful.

The decision was also fiercely criticized by the head of the French National Referees’ Union, Bernard Saules, who noted that spitting on an official usually calls for a full six-month suspension.

“Everyone has seen the pictures and everyone knows how to read the calendar,” Saules said, a suggestion that the length of the suspension was dictated by the Football Federation’s desire to have Barthez available for France’s remaining World Cup qualifiers.

“This is a mockery,” Saules added. “I’m very angry.”

The suspension is due to take effect on Monday. This means that Barthez can play in this weekend’s match between Marseille and Nantes, but will miss the rest of the French season.

However, Barthez now will be available for France’s next World Cup qualifying game in September. If the Marseille goalkeeper had been suspended the full six months, he would have missed four vital World Cup qualification matches against Switzerland, Ireland, Cyprus and the Faroe Islands.

France is currently not assured of a place in the 2006 World Cup finals. After having won two matches and tied two, they are tied for the lead in Group 4 with Ireland and surprising Israel.

Barthez has so far won 75 caps for France, with whom he won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship.

Barthez testified on Thursday before the Federation’s disciplinary committee, as did Marseille’s president, Pape Diouf, and another player involved in the incident, defender Frederic Dehu, who was not punished.

The incident occurred late in the match after a scuffle between several players on the pitch. The referee, Abdellah El Achiri, accused Barthez, who was on the bench, of running onto the pitch to insult him and finally spit on him.

El Achiri ultimately stopped the match prematurely to prevent further incidents.