Sunday’s Ligue 1 game between Marseille and Nice at Allianz Rivera was abandoned after a chaotic brawl broke out.
Kasper Dolbeg opened the scoring at the beginning of the second half. Around 15 minutes of play was left when OCG Nice supporter threw a bottle at Marseille midfielder Dimitry Payet.
The stadium announcer also had to warn the crowd about the consequences of their unacceptable behaviour. However, when Payet the Frenchman could not maintain his composure – the Frenchman threw the bottle back into the crowd, which provoked absolute chaos.
Following Payet’s shenanigans, a vast section of the Nice faithful stormed into the pitch to attack the Marseille players.
Apart from Payet, former Arsenal midfielder Matteo Guendouzi and Brazilian defender Luan Peres were also injured in the brawl.
The authorities managed to escort players and the referees into the tunnel, but the frenzied mob was wreaking havoc on the pitch.
After a delay of 90 minutes, the crowd was managed to be pacified, as the authorities ordered for the resumption of play. However, while Nice players were returned to the field, the Marseille players decided not to get back on the pitch, leaving the organizers with only one viable option – to abandon the match.
Later on, Marseille president Pablo Longoria stated that the decision was taken so as to set a precedent:
”What happened today is unacceptable. We must make it a precedent for French football and that’s why we decided to return to Marseille,”
“The league decided that the match should continue but we decided not to because the safety of our players was not guaranteed. This is the second time it’s happened. We have already experienced this in Montpellier where we decided to continue after the decision to carry on was made,”
Longoria explained to the media, as per quotes on Sky Sports.
The chairman even claimed that even the referee, Benoit Bastien, was not in favour of resumption of the game, as the official had apparently told him that safety cannot be assured under such frenzied circumstances.
“The referee was with us. He confirmed to us that safety was not assured. His decision was to abandon the match, but the LFP (Professional Football League) decided to restart the match. That is not acceptable for us,”
Longoria added.
”Deplorable”: Nice puts the blame on Marseille players
While Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivere has accepted that the crowd behaviour was uncalled for, he has shifted the blame on Marseille players, saying that the brawl broke out because of how Payet and his teammates reacted.
“It’s disappointing that the game ended like this. Everyone saw what happened. We can’t deny that water bottles were thrown because we could all see it. What ignited the clashes was the reaction of two Marseille players who retaliated,”
argued Rivere.
He even went on to highlight another significant incident, which might have further instigated the brawls.
The replays showed a member of the Marseille staff landing a punch on a Nice fan, while the Nice players received a few blows themselves.
Speaking about this incident, Rivere said:
“Afterwards, it is deplorable that the Marseille security staff intervened on the ground and hit our players.”
With Marseille failing to turn up to the match, LFP have given Nice a walkover victory for now, but Marseille have confirmed that they will challenge the decision.
