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François Letexier

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François Letexier
Born (1989-04-23) 23 April 1989 (age 35)
Bédée, France[1]
Domestic
Years League Role
2015– Ligue 2 Referee
2016– Ligue 1 Referee
International
Years League Role
2017– FIFA listed Referee

François Letexier (born 23 April 1989) is a French football referee who officiates in the Ligue 1. He has been a FIFA referee since 2017 and is ranked as a UEFA elite category referee.[2]

Refereeing career

[edit]

In 2016, Letexier began officiating in the Ligue 1. His first match as referee was on 23 January 2016 between Montpellier and Caen.[3] In 2017, he was put on the FIFA referees list. He officiated his first senior international match on 23 March 2018 between Bulgaria and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In April 2019, he officiated 2019 UEFA Youth League final between Porto and Chelsea.

On 20 May 2021, he refereed 2021 Coupe de France final between Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain.

On 26 May 2021, as VAR, he officiated the 2021 UEFA Europa League final between Villarreal and Manchester United. He refereed three matches of the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (including the quarter-final between Portugal and Italy).

On 20 August 2022, Letexier refereed the Ligue 2 match between Saint-Étienne and Le Havre where he issued four red cards to three of Saint-Etienne's players: Anthony Briançon, Mathieu Cafaro and Etienne Green, and a member of the Saint-Etienne staff.[4]

On 24 October 2022, Letexier was the subject of controversy during Ligue 1 match between Nice and Nantes. At the 19th minute, he did not award a penalty to Nantes when the ball hit both of Mattia Viti's arms. Near the end of the match, he awarded a controversial penalty to Nice when the ball hit Jean-Charles Castelletto's arm. Letexier showed red cards to Nantes' Kader Bamba and their goalkeeper Alban Lafont (who received a second yellow card after the match ended). Days later, after receiving death threats on social media, Letexier defended his decisions in an interview with L'Équipe.[5]

On 16 August 2023, he was the referee for the 2023 UEFA Super Cup between Manchester City and Sevilla.[6]

On 9 April 2024, he refereed the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal knockout tie between Real Madrid and Manchester City at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, which finished 3-3.[7]

In the same month, Letexier was selected to officiate at the Men's Olympic Games football tournament in Paris.[8] Weeks later, he was also selected to officiate at UEFA Euro 2024 in Germany.[9][10]

In May 2024, he officiated the Olympic intercontinental play-off between Indonesia and Guinea, qualifying the latter to the Olympics for the first time since 1968. Also, he sent off Indonesia coach Shin Tae-yong, who argued with Letexier's decision to award Guinea a second penalty.[11]

In same month, he was appointed by UEFA as the fourth official for UEFA Champions League final between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid.[12] He also refereed the 2024 Coupe de France final between Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain.[13]

He was also later recruited for the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament and refereed two group matches between Croatia and Albania (Group B) and between Denmark and Serbia (Group C), and then refereed one match in the Round of 16 between Spain and Georgia. Letexier was then further selected on 11 July 2024 to officiate UEFA Euro 2024 final between Spain and England on 14 July 2024. As the age of 35, Letexier became the youngest referee to take charge of a UEFA Euro Final, beating previous record of Swedish official Anders Frisk, who was 37 years old when he refereed UEFA Euro 2000 final.[14]

Just 10 days after Euro 2024 final, Letexier was assigned the opening round Group D pool match between Japan and Paraguay at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

On 27 October 2024, Letexer was at the centre of attention during Ligue 1 match between Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain when he sent off Marseille's Amine Harit for his foul on PSG's Marquinhos. As Letexier's decision to sent Harit off cause backlash online with some saying it was deemed harsh, Letexer defends his action when he spoke out at DAZN after the match and explains that he felt that Harit's action put Marquinhos' physical integrity at risk.[15]

The International Federation of Football History & Statistics named François Letexier the best male referee in the world for 2024.[16]

Personal life

[edit]

He is married and has a son (born around 2021). He also works as a court bailiff.[17][18]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Football : François Letexier, l'arbitre pressé" [Football: François Letexier, the referee in a hurry.] (in French). Le Point. 15 November 2017. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  2. ^ "Referees by Association: France". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved 18 December 2019.[dead link‍]
  3. ^ "France » Ligue 1 2015/2016 » 22. Round » Montpellier HSC – SM Caen 1:2". WorldFootball.net. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  4. ^ "Eight-man Saint-Etienne smashed in club-record loss". time.news. 20 August 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  5. ^ "Nice-Nantes referee François Letexier filed a complaint after being threatened on social media". time.news. 28 October 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  6. ^ "Manchester City v Sevilla – Match info". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 14 August 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  7. ^ "Real Madrid v Manchester City – Match info". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 9 April 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  8. ^ "FIFA match officials appointed for Olympic Football Tournaments Paris 2024". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 3 April 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  9. ^ "2024 FIFA Men's and Women's Olympic Football Tournaments - Selected officials". law5-theref.blogspot.com. 3 April 2024. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  10. ^ "Referee teams for UEFA EURO 2024 appointed". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 23 April 2024. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  11. ^ "Guinea beat Indonesia 1-0 in the AFC-CAF Play-off to claim final men's Olympic football quota". International Olympic Committee. 9 May 2024.
  12. ^ "Referee teams for 2024 UEFA club competition finals announced". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 13 May 2024. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  13. ^ "Letexier dirigera la finale" [Benoît Millot will referee the final] (in French). French Football Federation. 13 May 2024. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  14. ^ "Spain v England – Match info". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 14 July 2024. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  15. ^ "Referee Defends Amine Harit's Red Card in OM Defeat to PSG". Onefootball. PSG Talk. 28 October 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  16. ^ "IFFHS AWARDS 2024 - FRANCOIS LETEXIER, MEN'S WORLD BEST REFEREE". iffhs.com. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  17. ^ "Super Cup referee Letexier moves forward". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 15 August 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  18. ^ "EURO 2024 final referee Letexier primed for action". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 13 July 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
[edit]
Sporting positions

France François Letexier

Preceded by 2023 UEFA Super Cup Succeeded by
Preceded by UEFA Euro 2024 final Succeeded by
UEFA Euro 2028 final
N/A to be determined
  1. ^ "UEFA Referees Categories for the second half of season 2024/25" (PDF).
  2. ^ "UEFA Referees Categories for the second half of season 2024/25" (PDF).
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