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.

The manager's outburst at the end of Lyon's win over Brest resulted in an unprecedented ban that will keep him from the touchline through the end of November.

The Lyon manager's lengthy suspension comes with relations between French club officials and referees strained to breaking point