Next Thursday, Benoît Costil will be interviewed by the discipline commission of the LFP. The Rennais goalkeeper will be heard regarding an action in which he came out of his goal and violently tackled Benjamin André, during Ajaccio - Rennes.
« Honestly, I didn’t expect to be summoned, Costil said to Sport24.com. But I will go and listen to what they have to tell me. And then, if they need it, I will give them my opinion in all sincerity ».
Regarding his version of the facts, the goalkeeper explains his gesture to be clumsy rather than aggressive. « My run wasn’t well timed, he recognizes. But this is clumsy rather than anything else. I didn’t intend to hurt Benjamin André. Besides, this is a good thing he wasn’t injured. I didn’t tackle with the two feet ahead. In fact, I folded my knees because I felt I was quite late. I wanted to restrain myself, but I was already gone and I was in the air because the ball was in the air. I went in order to block him, thinking that we were both arriving at the same time on the ball. And finally, he touched the ball before me... »
This action should probably have been punished with a penalty, but wasn’t whistled by the referee Benoît Bastien. However, he wrote a report after the match, completed by the comments of the viewing committee. Costil, on his side, already apologized to the Ajaccio player. « I sent him a quick message, through the intermediary of Damien Tibéri, whom I played with in Sedan, the Rennais player explains. The most important is that the player is not hurt and that he can play, because I’m not a nasty person ».