The problems of the crowd are jeopardizing the future of French football, the minister says

PARIS, November 22 (Reuters) – Repeated audience problems in Ligue 1 jeopardize the future of French football, French sports minister Roxana Maracineanu said when Sunday’s match between Olympique Lyonnais and Olympique Marseille was suspended due to fan violence.

The Disciplinary Committee of the French League (LFP) said on Monday that Lyon will play its Ligue 1 home game behind closed doors until it decides on the case on 8 December after an investigation.

The French “Olympico” was suspended nearly two hours after the ban when a bottle thrown from the auditorium of Groupama Stadium hit Marseille’s Dimitri Payet.

The referee sent Ruddy Buquet to the locker room as Payet fell to the ground in preparation for the corner kick.

Payet skipped rehearsals on Monday, and French RMC Sport said Marseille was prosecuting.

A stadium announcer initially said the match would resume after a decision by local Lyon authorities.

This was criticized by the French League (LFP), which demanded an emergency meeting of its disciplinary board on Monday, as a result of which Lyon played their home game without spectators in next Wednesday’s match against Stade de Reims.

“They have to reach an agreement, such problems need to be resolved by the League,” Maracineanu told France Info on Monday, and his office later told Reuters that the sports and interior ministries would meet on Tuesday.

The Ministry of the Interior added that the French Federation and the LFP had been invited to the meeting.

“Everyone needs to understand that this is the survival of French football,” Maracineanu said.

Ligue 1 has suffered from fan violence this season.

Nice scored two points, one of which was banned after a serious incident in a game against Marseille in August, which players clashed with home fans who threw them at missiles and rushed to the field. .

The North Derby between RC Lens and Lille suffered crowd problems in September as the start of the second half was delayed after rival fans threw objects at each other before people ran into the field, prompting riot police and judges to intervene.

There have also been audience problems in Montpellier, Angers, Marseille and St Etienne.

Maracineanu said the incidents threatened the finances of the French footballer.

“We can’t allow a broadcaster who has bought the rights to keep the debate moving for more than an hour, as they did last night when we don’t know if the match will continue, a world with millions of euros. At stake,” he said.

“We’ve helped the football world during the health crisis to allow fans to return to stadiums, we can’t allow things like that to happen.”

Reported by Julien Pretot; Edited by Ed Osmond and Shrivathsa Sridhar

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