REFEREE Tony Chapron apologised today for kicking out at Nantes defender Diego Carlos and advised that the player’s sending-off should be overturned.

Late in Nantes’s 1-0 loss to Paris St Germain yesterday, Chapron was accidentally tripped by Carlos. From the floor, he kicked out at the Nantes defender’s legs then showed him a second yellow card.

French football league LFP has stood Chapron from duty “until further notice” and he will face a disciplinary hearing.

He told French news agency AFP that the collision caused “a sharp pain from a recent injury” and he “reacted badly by moving my leg towards the player.”

“I have sent a report to the [LFP] disciplinary commission so that the second] booking received by the player can be withdrawn, because having seen the images his action did not seem deliberate.”