Paulo Fonseca, the head coach of French soccer team Olympique Lyonnais, has been given a nine-month suspension after confronting a referee – a sanction the club described as “severe” and “unprecedented.

Lyon coach Paulo Fonseca has been banned from the touchline at games for nine months for aggressively confronting the referee at a French league game.

Lyon's American owner John Textor has given his full support to Paulo Fonseca despite the manager's nine-month ban for confronting a referee, assuring the Portuguese "you are the right man for Lyon"."You are the right man for Lyon and we shall persevere.