LYON have threatened to sue their own fans if they keep depicting manager Rudi Garcia as a clown on social media.
Almost as dramatic as the warning itself is the timing – less than 24 hours after a famous 1-0 Champions League win over Juventus.
But poor Garcia can hardly be feeling too big for his boots as supporters have voiced their anger at sitting just seventh in Ligue 1.
And Lyon‘s announcement failed to quell the clutter of clown images, as fans continued to Tweet taunting messages including one Garcia mock-up that was more than a little like the Joker.
The French top-flight outfit put this statement on their website: “Olympique Lyonnais informs that the club will now file a complaint for all the content, posted or shared on its social networks, which may constitute insult, defamation, threat, harassment or incitement to hatred or violence.”
“It is our duty to mobilize to fight against discrimination and hate speech, online and in the field.”
Club president Jean-Michel Aulas has also been shown as a clown on social media.
But he has juggled the club’s desire to stamp down on the taunts with his keenness to play it all down.
His translated tweet includes: “Only a small number of twittos carried out this activation in an organized and accompanied manner!”
Garcia, though, will surely have the last laugh if his men can KO Juve when they visit the Italian champions for the last-16 second leg on March 17.
For a clown, what a huge feat that would be.
