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regular-article-logo Friday, 26 April 2024

Crowd problem puts future of French soccer at risk, says minister

The “Olympico” was called off almost two hours after being suspended when Marseille’s Dimitri Payet was hit by a bottle thrown from the Groupama Stadium stands

Reuters Published 23.11.21, 02:31 AM
Dimitri Payet.

Dimitri Payet. Twitter/@caritora1

Repeated crowd problems in Ligue 1 are putting the future of French soccer at risk, French sports minister Roxana Maracineanu said after Sunday’s game between Olympique Lyonnais and Olympique Marseille was abandoned due to fan violence.

The disciplinary commission of the French League (LFP) on Monday said that Lyon would play their Ligue 1 home games behind closed doors until it rules on the incident on December 8 after an investigation.

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The French “Olympico” was called off almost two hours after being suspended when Marseille’s Dimitri Payet was hit by a bottle thrown from the Groupama Stadium stands. Referee Ruddy Buquet sent the players to the dressing room after Payet fell to the ground as he was preparing to take a corner kick.

Payet missed training on Monday and French website RMC Sport reported that Marseille would press charges. The stadium announcer initially said the match would restart, following a decision made by local Lyon authorities.

This was criticised by the LFP which called for an emergency meeting of its disciplinary panel on Monday, resulting in Lyon playing home matches without spectators starting with next Wednesday’s game against Stade de Reims. Ligue 1 has been marred by fan violence this season.

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