I'm a court bailiff who slapped Erling Haaland, sent off Chelsea star and was 'inappropriate' to Will Still, now I'll referee Euro 2024 final

The referee for this weekend's Euro 2024 final will have no problem with stamping his authority - potentially even with a flailing arm.

Francois Letexier has been given the honour of officiating the showpiece between the Three Lions and Spain in Berlin this weekend.

Letexier officiated Spain's 4-1 win over Georgia

The Frenchman was promoted to the FIFA list of officials in 2017 and has been a regular in the centre of the pitch in Ligue 1 since 2016.

He's gained plenty of experience in UEFA's most elite competitions too, refereeing in the Champions League and the 2023 Super Cup between Manchester City and Sevilla.

Letexier is a seasoned professional and is not to be messed with as he's an expert at sending people down as well as sending players off...

He remarkably also works as a part-time court bailiff as he claims it helps him to 'keep a good life balance'.

It means the 35-year-old knows a lot about enforcing the law and Ben Chilwell, who failed to make England's Euro 2024 squad, experienced that first-hand.

Chilwell was sent off by Letexier in the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2023 after cynically dragging down Rodrygo during a 2-0 first-leg loss against Real Madrid.

It proved that the French referee is not afraid of making big decisions on big occasions.

And he may be called upon to make another on Sunday.

Chilwell was sent off at the Bernabeu by Letexier

This will be the biggest match of the Frenchman's career

Although he's already had one run-in with an English manager this season, so Gareth Southgate will be hoping he toes the line.

In December, Letexier was accused by Will Still of making an 'inappropriate' comment about his then-proposed move to Sunderland.

Having approached the official after Stade de Reims' 2-0 defeat to RC Lens, Still was allegedly told that the refereeing in England 'would be better'.

Still - who ironically now manages Lens after turning down the Black Cats in May - said: "I found it funny, or not funny at all.

"He said something like, 'It will be better in England', I didn't find it very appropriate, but it's not a story, it's not interesting."

Letexier later hit back at Still's account, telling L'Équipe: "At the end of the match, I simply said, 'Maybe best of luck in England'. It was meant to be light-hearted, with a smile and without any ill intention. He misinterpreted me."

English manager Still was unhappy with Letexier

With the verbal approach failing, Letexier opted to get physical four months later to keep order, albeit completely by accident.

England's Phil Foden, John Stones and Kyle Walker were all present when the latest Euros final official slapped Erling Haaland.

Okay, 'slapped' is a slight exaggeration, but Letexier did catch Haaland with a flailing arm, hitting the striker in the face with a backhand without realising he was walking past.

He was in mid-argument with Real's Dani Carvajal, who will be on the pitch for Spain this weekend, when he went to point towards the goal and hit Haaland instead.

Haaland was accidentally slapped by Letexier during a Champions League clash

It left the Man City superstar fuming as he stared back at the referee in disgust while Letexier very quickly tried to apologise for it.

The Frenchman was in the headlines for a few days after the accident, however, he soon went back to continuing his refereeing without all the attention.

At Euro 2024, he's already taken charge of three games which included Spain's last-16 win over Georgia and two group stage clashes.

Letexier will now officiate another La Roja match, this time it's the big one though, with the Euros coming to a close in Berlin.

The pressure will be on for the teams, players and the referee as so much is on the line in what is expected to be a thrilling showpiece.

Comments

Keep up to date with our latest articles and uploads...