Europe 1 with AFP 7:24 am, August 23, 2021, modified at 7:27 am, August 23, 2021
Sunday, the third day match of Ligue 1 between Nice and Marseille was stopped after projectiles thrown at Marseille players.
On both sides, presidents claim their players have been assaulted.
The football match between Nice and Marseille was interrupted definitively after an invasion of the field while OGC Nice led 1 goal to 0. Marseillais Dimitri Payet received a bottle on the head before taking a corner and sent it back towards the Nice supporters.
There followed an altercation between the Marseille coach and the president of Nice.
Finally, after 1h45 of interruption, the match did not resume, the Marseillais refusing to return to the lawn.
"Our players have been attacked," says OM
"Everyone saw what happened things are quite clear. We had thrown water bottles, we can not dispute them. I think that which set off the powder unfortunately the reaction of two Marseille players to reject these bottles or other bottles through the platform of our supporters, "reacted Jean-Pierre Rivère, president of OGC Nice. "I think the Marseille security service does not have to intervene on the ground and especially hit our players," he said. Before declaring: "two of our players were hit".
Olympique de Marseille has decided not to resume the interrupted match in Nice because "our players were attacked", protested OM president Pablo Longoria after the incidents during the match on the third day of the League 1. "We decided for the safety of our players, who were attacked during the invasion of the field, not to resume the match because the safety of our players was not guaranteed", explained the manager in a video transmitted to the media.
OGC Nice does not "understand" the end of the match
"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," Longoria continued. But "the League (LFP) had decided for a matter of public order to resume the match. It is not acceptable for us, we decided to return to Marseille", he added. For his part, Jean-Pierre Rivère "did not quite understand the decision" of his "Marseille colleagues not to want to resume the match".
"What happened today is completely unacceptable, we must set a precedent for French football," Pablo Longoria insisted, calling for sanctions. "This is already the second time that we have seen this after Montpellier" on the second day, regretted Longoria. After throwing bottles in Montpellier against OM the week, the Butte Paillade stand from which the projectiles had started was closed.