PARIS:
French football plunged into a new abyss of violence after the Olympique de Marseille-Olympique Lyonnais match was called off after the visitors’ bus was pelted with stones and beer bottles, injuring Lyon coach Fabio Grosso on Sunday.
As the incidents took place outside Marseille’s Stade Velodrome, the French League (LFP) has no jurisdiction to sanction the home team.
The downsides are a poor showing for the LFP, which is negotiating a TV rights deal for 2024-29, with the competition ending on Thursday, and made for embarrassing plans less than a year before the 2024 Paris Olympics .
Some pre-Olympic matches will be played in Marseille, where violence erupted at the 1998 World Cup between England fans and French police. “OL regrets that this type of situation is repeated every year in Marseille and calls on the authorities to assess the seriousness and repetition of this type of incident before an even more serious tragedy occurs,” Lyon said in a statement, with club to add that they will file a formal legal complaint.
“What happened to Fabio Grosso is completely unacceptable,” said OM president Pablo Longoria. “This is something that cannot happen in football. Even if it happened off the pitch, it is unacceptable. I am angry and appalled by the situation.”
Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said: “These unacceptable acts deny the very values of football and sport and the perpetrators must all be found and severely punished.”
Seven suspects were arrested on Sunday night, the minister added.
Sunday was not the first time the away team bus has come under fire in Marseille, with previous incidents reported in 2016 and 2019. It also comes after fan trouble has marred the 2021-22 season. On that occasion Nice conceded two points and one of the players/fans was sent off, following serious incidents during their match against Marseille when away players clashed with home fans who pelted them with missiles and stormed the pitch. .
The northern derby between RC Lens and Lille was also hit by crowd trouble, with the start of the second half delayed after opposing fans threw objects at each other before crowds ran onto the pitch, prompting police and referees to intervene.
In that 2021-2022 season, there were also crowd problems at Montpellier, Angers, Marseille and Saint-Etienne.
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