Jean-François Pérès, edited by Thibaud Le Meneec 2:33 p.m., August 23, 2021

The football match between OGC Nice and Olympique de Marseille was suspended on Sunday evening by decision of the referee after throwing projectiles leading to scenes of violence on the field.

On Monday, the spokesperson for the National Association of Supporters (ANS), Kilian Valentin, condemns the facts on Europe 1.

INTERVIEW

Injured players, an exasperated coach, violent supporters… The football match between Nice and Marseille on Sunday evening turned into chaos.

The referee finally decided to stop the game even before the final whistle.

The spokesperson for the National Association of Supporters, Kilian Valentin, condemns these gestures at the microphone of Europe 1, Monday noon, while calling "not to generalize".

Scenes of fights in the stadium

Every time the Marseillais arrived at the corner point, the projectiles rained down.

It has happened four times to Dimitri Payet.

In the fifth, the OM player received a bottle in the lower part of the neck, near the back of the neck, and collapsed.

Then he wanted to respond.

Marseille players arrived to support him: they in turn threw projectiles in the direction of the concerned Nice platform.

The staff of the two teams then the supporters invaded the field and scenes of general brawl broke out.

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The match was suspended for an hour and a half of palaver.

Shortly before midnight, the match was definitively interrupted.

The Marseillais did not want to resume because they felt that their safety was not assured. 

"It should not be easy to make a generality"

"These gestures are reprehensible from all sides, whether from certain players, from certain supporters but also from leaders," said Kilian Valentin, spokesperson for the National Association of Supporters (ASN).

Before adding: "The responsibility is shared and we must not fall into the ease of making a generality."

For the supporters' representative, the Allianz Riviera "lacked" supporters.

"When the announcer made the announcement to stop the throwing of bottles, a referent-supporters could have allowed a dialogue directly with the platform or with officials to be able to prevent this from happening again," explains Kilian Valentin.

"There, there was none on Sunday and the dialogue was created after the general fight," he continues at the microphone of Europe 1. 

Three arrests on the ground

A judicial investigation was opened by the Nice prosecutor's office after the arrest of three minors on the ground.

Justice will now try to find the culprits thanks to the many cameras in the Nice stadium.

The culprits will be identified, spotted and probably banned from the stadium for a few months, even a few years, or even for life.

The two clubs were also called up on Wednesday by the Professional Football League.

In a few weeks, sanctions should therefore be applied.

The Marseille club, losing in the final score, hopes for its part that the match will be replayed in the days or weeks to come, behind closed doors.