Video: Zlatan Ibrahimovic calls France a 'sh*t' country after poor refereeing during PSG defeat
It doesn’t take a lot of wrong-doings to annoy someone like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and add losing a match after scoring twice because of a poor decision from officials, and you get the Zlatan who wouldn't shy away from calling the country he is playing in – sh*t.
With the scoreline tied at 2-2, it was the incident in the 85th minute of the match that irked the Swede after the referees didn't award PSG an indirect free-kick after Bordeaux goalkeeper Cedric Carrasso handled the ball with his hands following a back pass from a defender.
The back-pass rule prohibits a keeper by FIFA’s 12th Law from handling the ball directly with his hand when a team-mate passes it back to him. The keeper is allowed to use his head or chest, but definitely not his hands.
Bordeaux would eventually go on to win the match, thanks to a late goal from Diego Rolan.
Watch the incident here
With their 3-2 loss against Bordeaux, Paris Saint-Germain lost their lead on top of the Ligue 1 table to Lyon who drew their game 0-0 with Marseille. Zlatan, who was very unhappy with the referee, was caught on Canal Plus TV saying, “In 15 years I’ve never seen a [good] referee in this sh*t country... [they] don’t even deserve PSG.”
Zlatan’s reaction that was caught on camera (un-mute it!)
Understandably, France’s Sports Minister Patrick Kanner was not taking any of Zlatan’s momentary outburst lightly as he took to twitter to demand for his apology.
Translation: "Ibrahimovic's disappointment does not justify his remarks towards the referee and the country that hosts him. He will have to apologise.”
Zlatan’s apology
And, the former Milan striker did issue an apology later via his Instagram account, saying, “Regarding my comments after tonight's game; they were not against France or the French people.”
“I spoke about football. I lost the game, I accept that, but I can’t accept when the referee doesn’t follow the rules. It's not the first time, and I’m sick of it. My sincere apologies if anyone was offended, or took it the wrong way.”