Letexier noted that he could not simply take a player at his word to issue a red card without proof, but he felt it was vital to "formalise" the moment by triggering UEFA anti-discrimination protocol. This allowed the stadium announcer to address the crowd and the teams to understand the gravity of the situation.
"When a player comes to tell me that he has been the victim of racist insults that I didn't witness, I have to take what he tells me into account, but I can't make a decision solely on that basis, which seems legitimate to me," Letexier added. "You have to formalise the situation, make it clear to everyone, and explain to the various parties that the fact that I neither saw nor heard the incident prevents me from taking a disciplinary action. That's how I tried to handle the incident."