An investigation was opened following incidents that led to the disruption of the Ligue 1 soccer match between Nice and Marseille on Sunday, August 22. The league has also summoned the two clubs on Wednesday.
Investigation opened following incidents that led to the interruption of Ligue 1 soccer match
The Nice prosecutor’s office said on Monday, August 23, that an investigation was opened following the incidents that led to the disruption of the Ligue 1 Nice-Marseille soccer match this Sunday night, specifying that “there is no custody” at this time. According to RMC Sport, three minors were detained during the meeting before being handed over to their parents.
The match was stopped for an hour and a half after the fans invaded the pitch following an incident that ignited the match: another plastic bottle thrown at Marseille player Dimitri Payet, whom the latter violently shot into the stands.
The stewards, dressed in yellow vests, tried to stop the fans but punches were exchanged in a melee between players of the two teams, fans and stewards. Nice was leading 1-0 but the match was not over: after 90 minutes of total vagueness about the future of the match, the match was to resume but the absence of the Marseillaise, refusing to play, led the referee Mr. Benoît Bastien, to stop the game for good.
“The League decided to resume the match. We decided for the safety of our players, who were attacked when the pitch was invaded, not to resume because the safety of our players was not guaranteed,” explained OM president Pablo Longoria in a video sent to the media.
The two clubs called from this Wednesday, August 25
This Monday, August 23, the mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi considered that the violence was “still intolerable” and called for “sanctions” to the Professional Football League: “if the behavior of some fans is unspeakable, that of the president of OM was also in the stands and that of the coach on the field,” he wrote on his Twitter account.
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