Fijian winger Josaia Raisuqe has copped a five week ban for lifting a referee to celebrate the final whistle in a French second division game.<\/p>\n
Raisuqe's team Nevers held on with 14 men to win 30-25 at Beziers earlier this year, and the flyer got lost in the moment and lifted the referee Laurent Milotte before being shown the red card.<\/p>\n
The LNR disciplinary committee punished the player for "action against a game official" and for "disrespecting the authority of an official".<\/p>\n
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"At the end of the match, the first person I saw was the referee and I lifted him up," Raisuqe told Midi Olympique newspaper. "It was awkward, but I didn't want to hurt him! I was just happy." A clip of the incident went viral on social networks.<\/p>\n
"My phone kept ringing. It was unbearable," said the 26-year-old former Stade Francais player, who said he was "afraid of losing my job".<\/p>\n
At first, Nevers coach Xavier Pemeja promised to come down hard on the winger but cooler heads prevailed in the aftermath of the win.<\/p>\n
"I spoke to him after the match. He's a kid in his head," the coach said the next day.<\/p>\n
"He has to realise the stupidity he's done. I understand that it can make you laugh, but it doesn't make me laugh." <\/p>\n
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The Fijian Sevens international has had chequered history after being sacked three tries by Stade Francais in 2017 following a sexual assault case on a night when he was celebrating his birthday. He received a six-month suspended sentence for the offence last year.<\/p>\n
During the trial, the victim accused him of "violently and forcefully grabbing my breasts" as he left a Parisian nightclub.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"