French football again left reeling by rioting fans as Olympics loom

PARIS – French football was again marred by violence after Marseille’s Ligue 1 match against Lyon was called off on Sunday when the visitors’ bus and some fans were pelted with stones and beer bottles, injuring Lyon coach Fabio Grosso.

Grosso, a World Cup winner with Italy in 2006, sustained facial injuries that required a dozen stitches and left him with a 30-day temporary work disability, Marseille public prosecutor Nicolas Bessone told a news conference on Monday.

As Sunday’s incidents happened outside Marseille’s Stade Velodrome, the French League (LFP) has no jurisdiction to impose points deductions, although it could decide the game has to be played behind closed doors.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said nine people had been detained so far.

“I hope the highest possible prison sentences will be handed to those fans that ruined the party for everyone,” he added on BFM TV.

He said 500 officers had been on duty for the match and so “there was no fault” on the part of the police. No arrest has yet been made in the attack on Grosso but an investigation has been opened for “voluntary violence with premeditation”, which could carry a jail sentence of up to 10 years.

The incidents are a bad look for the LFP, which has been negotiating a TV rights deal for 2024-2029, with the tender ending on Thursday, and makes for embarrassing footage less than a year before the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Some preliminary round 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 recurs 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.

“What happened to Fabio Grosso is totally unacceptable,” Marseille president Pablo Longoria said.

He added: “Even if it happened outside of the stadium, it is unacceptable. I am angry and appalled by the situation.”

Marseille condemned the behaviour of their fans in a statement on Monday.

“Olympique de Marseille deplores the unacceptable incidents that took place in the vicinity of the Stade Orange Velodrome, involving the professional team bus and buses of Olympique Lyonnais supporters,” the statement read.

“The club wishes Lyon coach Fabio Grosso a speedy recovery and strongly condemns this violent behaviour, which has no place in the world of football or in society.”

“We have seen just about everything you would not want to see,” Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera told France 2 TV, adding that fans had also been chanting homophobic and racist slurs inside Stade Velodrome.

“It was distressing, revolting, disgusting,” she added.

Lyon condemned their fans’ behaviour after some were seen making Nazi salutes at the Velodrome.

“OL firmly condemns the unacceptable racist behaviour of individuals in the stands on Sunday,” they said in a statement.

“The club has requested the footage in order to identify the perpetrators of any act contrary to the law, but also contrary to its values, and reiterates its determination to keep them away from the stands.”

Sunday was not the first time the away team bus had been targeted in Marseille, with previous incidents reported in 2016 and 2019.

It came after fan trouble marred the 2021-2022 season. That time, Nice were docked two points, one of which was suspended, after serious incidents during their game against Marseille, when visiting players clashed with home fans who pelted them with missiles and stormed onto the pitch.

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

The French league also took action against Paris Saint-Germain for homophobic chants by their supporters in the home match against Marseille on Sept 24.
REUTERS, AFP