🎈 Up Big Today: Find today's biggest gainers with our free screenerTry Stock Screener

Soccer-Lyon v Marseille abandoned after Payet hit by bottle

Published 11/21/2021, 05:34 PM
Updated 11/21/2021, 05:51 PM
© Reuters. Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Olympique Lyonnais v Olympique de Marseille - Groupama Stadium, Lyon, France - November 21, 2021  Olympique de Marseille's Dimitri Payet is hit by a water bottle thrown by a fan REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

LYON, France (Reuters) -The Ligue 1 game between Olympique Lyonnais and Olympique de Marseille was abandoned after Marseille's Dimitri Payet was hit by a bottle hurled from the stands at the Groupama Stadium on Sunday, throwing France's Ligue 1 into fresh turmoil.

Payet fell to the ground as he was getting ready to take a corner kick after five minutes, and both teams were sent to the dressing room by referee Ruddy Buquet, who then decided to abandon the match after a suspension of almost two hours.

Payet, who according to the French League (LFP) was also subject to "discriminatory insults", left the pitch with an ice pack on his head.

The stadium's announcer had initially said that the game would restart, following a decision made by local Lyon authorities.

This was immediately criticised by the LFP in a statement, in which the body also said it was summoning an emergency meeting of its disciplinary commission on Monday.

In chaotic scenes, Lyon players took to the pitch to warm up, but Jorge Sampaoli's Marseille stayed in the dressing room and the match was eventually called off.

"The referee believes safety conditions are not met," the stadium announcer said.

Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas criticised the decision to abandon the match.

"The referee first said that the game could restart and he changed his mind after the violent reaction of Marseille, notably that of their coach," Aulas said.

"I believe the conditions were met to resume the game after the individual had been arrested. He is in police custody."

His Marseille counterpart Pablo Longoria said Payet was "psychologically affected" by the incident and explained that the club had asked Buquet to check on their players before potentially resuming the game.

"We asked him to check on our players' psychological state. He did not wish to go and see the players."

The referee said that his "sporting decision" was to not restart the game, but there were other elements to take into account. "It's a full stadium, players to evacuate," he said.

"My decision was to call off the game. We have to take our responsibilities and that's what I did tonight."

Ligue 1 has been marred by crowd trouble this season.

Nice were docked two points, one of them suspended, after serious incidents during their game against Marseille, whose players clashed with home fans who pelted them with missiles and stormed onto the pitch in August.

The northern derby between RC Lens and Lille was also hit by crowd problems in September, with the start of the second half being delayed by about half a hour after rival fans threw objects at each other before people ran on to the pitch, prompting riot police and stewards to intervene.

© Reuters. Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Olympique Lyonnais v Olympique de Marseille - Groupama Stadium, Lyon, France - November 21, 2021  Olympique de Marseille's Dimitri Payet is hit by a water bottle thrown by a fan REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

There has also been crowd trouble in Montpellier, Angers, Marseille and St Etienne.

"We now have to sit down all together and discuss so that these incidents do not happen again," said Longoria.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.