Aurier could be sacked by PSG but his cause has been helped

Aurier could be sacked by PSG but his cause has been helped in recent days by team-mate Blaise Matuidi, who said at the weekend that the Ligue 1 club "need him, whether it be on the field or off it."

And on Monday the African division of players' union FIFPro called for PSG to avoid dishing out an excessive punishment.

"While preserving the image of the club and marking the authority of the directors and coach...the future of Serge Aurier, as a player and as a man, should not be compromised, just because he forgot for two or three minutes that he had obligations towards his coach and his team-mates," they said in a statement.

An Africa Cup of Nations winner with the Ivory Coast last year, Aurier joined Paris on an initial loan deal from Toulouse in 2014, with the move made permanent last summer.