Nice (AFP)

The Nice-Marseille match was stopped Sunday an hour and a half after supporters invaded the pitch following an incident that ignited the match: yet another plastic bottle thrown at Dimitri Payet, which the player sent back to the gallery.

Nice were leading 1-0, but the game did not end.

A week after an interruption in Montpellier, where supporters had also thrown bottles on the field, already against OM, French football experienced a new incident, the second of the same order, on the 3rd day of a Ligue 1 which finds its audience after a season behind closed doors.

After 90 minutes of procrastination, the meeting was finally stopped when the referee, Benoît Bastien, put the ball to the corner post, whistled and noted the absence of the Marseillais.

"The League (LFP) decided to resume the match. We decided for the safety of our players, who were attacked during the invasion of the field, not to resume because the safety of our players was not guarantee, "said OM President Pablo Longoria in a video sent to the media.

"The referee was with us, he confirmed to us (coach) Jorge Sampaoli and me that safety was not guaranteed and had decided to stop the game," continued the manager.

- Payet relaunched the bottle -

Nice wanted to resume the game.

"I know very well that the match could have resumed. I was convinced that it would go very well. Unfortunately the Marseillais did not wish to resume the match. Of which act", said the president of Nice, Jean-Pierre Rivère, at a post-match press conference.

OGC Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivère with coach Christophe Galtier during the interruption of the Ligue 1 match against Marseille following the invasion of the pitch by supporters, on August 22, 2021 at the Allianz Riviera.

Valery HACHE AFP

The incident began in the 75th minute at this corner post, when OM player Dimitri Payet returned one of the many plastic bottles he received every time he went to the Nice supporters' stand. take a corner.

Nice led from a goal from Kasper Dolberg (48th).

The incident started when Payet returned one of the many plastic bottles he received every time he went for a corner to the Nice supporters' stand.

In the first period, on the same side of the field, the stadium announcer asked the supporters not to throw anything on the pitch.

Hit by one of the projectiles, Payet collapsed to the ground before getting up and grabbing the bottle that had hit him to throw it towards the stand.

His teammates Alvaro Gonzalez and Mattéo Guendouzi ran towards the "kop" to harangue the area where the bottle came from.

A security cordon of stewards, dressed in yellow vests, tried to stop the supporters, but blows were exchanged at different places of the pitch in a scrum, between players of the two teams, supporters and stewards.

- Cuts and abrasions -

Photos circulated on social networks, showing marks on Marseille players, including cuts to the neck on Luan Peres and the scratched back of Payet.

Among the many angry actors, Marseille coach Jorge Sampaoli had to be overpowered by members of his staff not to fight.

Marseille coach Jorge Sampaoli overpowered by his players and staff after incidents at the Allianz Riviera stadium in Nice, August 22, 2021. Valery HACHE AFP

"We had water bottle throws, that we can not dispute", admitted the president of Nice.

"Unfortunately what set fire to the powder is the reaction of two Marseille players to reject these bottles, or other bottles, through the platform of our supporters and then after that was a bit chained", a he continued.

He criticized the Marseille security service for having "hit (s) our players. Two players were hit".

Following the Montpellier-Marseille incidents (3-2 victory for OM), the Butte Paillade stand, usually occupied by the ultras, was suspended for Sunday's match against Lorient.

"This is already the second time that we have experienced this after Montpellier" on the second day, regretted Longoria.

"What happened today is completely unacceptable, we must set a precedent for French football," insisted the Spanish leader, calling for sanctions.

© 2021 AFP