The French Football Federation (FFF) has backed referee Clément Turpin’s decision not to award Le Havre a penalty following a controversial handball incident involving Nigerian midfielder Tochukwu Nnadi during Olympique Marseille’s 4-3 Ligue 1 victory.

Foot01 reported on Wednesday that the federation’s Refereeing Department had reviewed the incidents and concluded that Turpin was right not to award a penalty for either Nnadi’s handball appeal or a separate incident involving Marseille forward Neal Maupay.

Marseille appeared to be heading for a comfortable victory after establishing a four-goal advantage against Le Havre at the Stade Vélodrome on Sunday, October 25.

However, the visitors scored three times to set up a tense finish and came close to securing a late equaliser.

During stoppage time, Le Havre appealed for a penalty after the ball appeared to make contact with Nnadi’s arm inside the Marseille penalty area.

The incident prompted Turpin to review the footage following a VAR intervention.

However, the FFF concluded that the available images did not provide sufficient evidence to establish whether the ball had made contact with the Nigerian midfielder’s arm or whether any potential contact warranted a penalty.

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