Lyon requested on Wednesday that their postponed Ligue 1 fixture away to Marseille be played at a neutral ground following the attack on the team bus by opposing fans.
“At the moment, the safety conditions necessary to play in Marseille have not been met,” said Lyon’s general manager Vincent Ponsot on the club’s TV channel. “We have to play at a neutral ground... What we want is for the safety of our players to be guaranteed.”
Speaking on the same channel, Lyon deputy managing director Xavier Pierrot said that the club, as well as its staff, would be formally lodging complaints in the coming days. The match was originally set for last Sunday, but was called off after the home Marseille fans attacked the Lyon bus as it entered the Stade Velodrome, injuring coach Fabio Grosso.
Grosso, who had to have 12 stitches after the incident and was unable to take part in Tuesday’s training session, made his first statement about events in Marseille. “What happened on Sunday evening could have been a tragedy, and it certainly was for the sport and all those who love it,” he wrote in a message on Instagram. “I hope with all my heart that it will serve as a lesson for our future,” he added.
Grosso’s face was left bloodied and his assistant Raffaele Longo was also injured. TV pictures showed Grosso with a bandage on his head as he emerged from the stadium’s medical room. A photo showed Grosso lying on a stretcher with a cut above his left eye.
Three investigations have already been opened by the prosecutor’s office in Marseille, two of them related to the stoning of the team bus and a bus containing Lyon fans. The third pertains to the behaviour of Lyon supporters in the stadium, who have been accused of racism and performing Nazi salutes.
It was the latest incident in an already trouble-scarred season in France. Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said the incidents were “unacceptable” and called on the clubs to take firm and swift action. “If it is proved that supporters were involved... then clubs cannot remain on the sidelines of that,” she said. “All the authorities in sport must be made responsible,” she added.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said nine people had been arrested as a result of the incidents. He said 500 officers had been on duty for the match between two of French football’s best-supported clubs and so “there was no fault” on the part of the police. “It is up to the club to manage its supporters,” he said.
As the incidents took place outside the stadium, the clubs are not, in theory, liable. The French league’s director general Arnaud Rouger said: “This is not our responsibility, but as with any incident we stand side by side with the government and I fully support the words of Gerald Darmanin who has called for a stronger penalties for the perpetrators of these particularly serious incidents.”
Marseille club president Pablo Longoria said he was disgusted by the attack on the Lyon bus. “These are completely unacceptable circumstances,” he said. “My first thought is for Fabio Grosso, someone I respect and have known for a long time. I went to see him as soon as I arrived at the stadium, I saw how he was.”
Earlier this month, a match between Montpellier and Clermont was abandoned after a firecracker was thrown on the pitch and four men were arrested for attacking the Rodez goalkeeper at a Ligue 2 game in Bordeaux. The French league also took action against Paris Saint-Germain for homophobic chants by their supporters in the home match against Marseille on September 24.
Last season, Nice were docked a point after their home game against Marseille was abandoned because of fan violence, there was a pitch invasion when Lille visited Lens and battles in the stands when Marseille visited Angers. In January, Paris FC and Lyon were both thrown out of the French Cup after violence forced their tie to be called off at half-time. With global stars Lionel Messi and Neymar having left Paris Saint-Germain, the images of a bloodied Grosso and a postponed match as a result of supporters’ violence will do little for the game’s marketability in France, where the league is aiming to drive the rights sale up beyond 1bn euros.
Lyon coach Fabio Grosso suffered cuts to his face when his team’s bus was pelted with stones near Marseille’s stadium.
