The head of a Tunisian football club has been handed a lifetime ban after he admitted to pinching the referee’s buttocks during a league match last month.
CS Sfaxien president Moncef Khemakhen was banned from ‘any activity in football’ by the Tunisian Football Federation [TFF] for abusing the officials during the championship match.
The TFT said Khemakhen had violently assaulted and bitten an assistant referee and pinched his backside during his side’s encounter with Etoile du Sahel early last month.
The federation accused Khemakhen of ‘verbally abusing the match officials, dangerous and unsporting behavior, indecent assault and harm to good morals’, and it fined him $12,900.
The incident occurred after the referee awarded Etoile a controversial penalty that leveled the game 2-2, although Sfaxien won the game 3-2
Khemakhen admitted to tweaking the referee’s bum when he appeared on public TV Wataniya and said he had “twice pinched the backside of the linesman to cheer him up” because he lost the match.
He further said: “We decided to get our rights with our teeth and fingers. We had our gift.”
Uganda Cranes striker Yunus Sentamu has played at CS Sfaxien.