Nice-Marseille incidents: an open investigation, the clubs summoned

Europe 1 with AFP 12:00 p.m., August 23, 2021, modified at 12:00 p.m., August 23, 2021

An investigation was opened after the incidents which led to the interruption of the Ligue 1 match Nice-Marseille on Sunday evening, the Nice prosecutor's office said on Monday, while the two clubs were summoned by the League's Disciplinary Commission .

"An investigation is underway, but there is no custody" at this stage, said the prosecution.

As for the two teams, they are exposed to sanctions and were summoned on Wednesday by the Disciplinary Commission of the Professional Football League (LFP), the latter citing "serious incidents" in a press release.

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 Nice-Marseille: all the bad decisions have been made!

The Nice-Marseille match was stopped on Sunday an hour and a half, after supporters invaded the pitch following an incident that ignited the match: yet another plastic bottle thrown at Marseille player Dimitri Payet, which last returned to the rostrum. A security cordon of stewards, dressed in yellow vests, tried to stop the supporters, but blows were exchanged in different parts of the field, in a scrimmage between players of the two teams, supporters and stewards.

Nice led 1-0, but the match did not end: after 90 minutes of procrastination, the meeting was definitively stopped when the referee noticed the absence of the Marseillais.

Nice wanted to resume the match while OM President Pablo Longoria for his part considered that "the safety of (his) players was not guaranteed".

"I want to salute the irreproachable behavior of the players"

Monday morning, the mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi estimated that the violence was "still intolerable" and asked for "sanctions" from the Professional Football League.

"If the behavior of some supporters 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.

"In this regard, I want to salute the irreproachable behavior of the players and the coach of the OGCN. It is now up to the national authorities to take the necessary decisions. It is up to everyone to respect them," added Christian Estrosi.

In the stands, Longoria and the president of Nice Jean-Pierre Rivère almost came to blows.

"They grabbed each other by the collar and the bodyguards had to separate them," a witness told AFP in the presidential gallery.

The mayor of Marseille, Benoît Payan, for his part reacted, also on Twitter, as soon as the game was stopped: "Injured players, failing security: the match should never have resumed. Sad decision. Proud of my team which did not lend itself to this masquerade ".