Barthez accused of spitting at referee

Fabien Barthez has been accused of spitting at a referee during a friendly match with Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca on Saturday.

Moroccan referee Abdellah El Achiri has told his country’s footballing federation that the Marseille keeper spat in his face during Marseille’s friendly with Wydad.

“I was a bit surprised to see Barthez coming towards me on the pitch as he had been replaced at the interval,” El Achiri said.

“He came up to me, he insulted me and he spat at me.”

The match was stopped when a brawl broke out in the 80th minute after El Achiri sent off Marseille defender Frederic Dehu.

“I’m going to report to my federation and it will be up to them to make a move,” El Achiri said.

Barthez, who was actually on the bench, stormed onto the pitch to harrangue the referee.

If found guilty the French number one will face a lengthy ban from the game.