Former French referee: Tantashev's officiating in France vs. Paraguay was amateurish

"I thought I was watching a beginner referee, or a regional referee." Former French referee Tony Chapron on Sunday morning reviewed his colleague Ilgiz Tantashev's controversial officiating in the Paraguay vs. France FIFA World Cup Round of 16 match, saying the referee "became an accomplice to the Paraguayans" and deviated from the spirit of the game.

Match length? 103 minutes. Effective playing time? 51 minutes, just 49% of the total match. This statistic is absurd. Had Deschamps' team not ultimately won, and had they not avoided serious injuries, the consequences for France in last Saturday's FIFA World Cup Round of 16 match, in which they fell into Paraguay's trap, could have been far worse. France won 1-0.

Asked to comment on Tantashev's highly controversial performance, the former Ligue 1 referee, now a Canal+ commentator, did not hold back. He particularly criticized the standard of this "amateur or regional referee," arguing that his decisions went against the spirit of the game.

The Paraguayans found an accomplice and kept him completely under their thumb.

"He protected the Paraguayans; they could do whatever they wanted to him. They didn't even get a single yellow card, even though they disrupted the entire match," Chapron continued. In 2018, Chapron was also voted the best Ligue 1 referee by his peers.

As for Désiré Doué's clear penalty in the 65th minute, the decision was only given after a belated intervention by the VAR. Chapron said: "Thankfully there was VAR, otherwise, given how things were going, he wouldn't have even given France a penalty. If another referee hadn't told him 'you must give a penalty,' there wouldn't have been one at all."

This Round of 16 match resembled trench warfare, with Paraguay making 29 tackles and committing 13 fouls, yet, strangely, not a single yellow card was shown to them throughout the match. This statistic alone encapsulates Tantashev's abysmal officiating. In contrast, he showed three yellow cards to France, with Barcola, Kouadio Koné, and Olise all receiving highly controversial bookings.

Despite several clashes between the two sides in the 34th minute and at the end of the match, France remained composed and did not overreact to these unpunished rough actions. Mbappé's smile throughout the match illustrated this point. Even with malicious fouls, obstruction of play, shoving, and insults occurring during the match, Chapron still highly praised this final display.

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