French Ligue 1 has punished both Marseille and Nice over their abandoned French Ligue 1 game. The French clubs abandoned the game with 15 minutes left to play in August 2021.
During the game, the stewards at the stadium struggled to keep OGC Nice’s spectators under control. Things got out of hand in the 75th minute when the OGC Nice’s supporters who occupied the South Stand threw objects to the pitch until one of the objects hit Marseille’s player Dimitri Payet.
Dimitri could not keep his cool as he got so angry that he decided to pick up the object and threw it back to the spectators. His teammate, Álvaro González joined him to throw the objects back to the fans.
The footballers’ reaction infuriated Nice’s fans who are referred to as Nice ultras to the extent they had to invade the pitch. It became so bad that the referee and the stewards could not control the situation, hence, the referee halted the game.
It got so bad that it was not only the players and the spectators that were involved in the scuffle. Some staff of both Marseille and Nice joined in the scuffle until the security guards at the stadium forced the two teams off the pitch.
Afterward, OGC Nice returned to the pitch to continue with the game but Marseille failed to show up citing security risk which forced the game to be abandoned. Before the outbreak of the incident, Nice were leading 1-0.
A day after the incident, local police in France ordered the closure of the South Stand of Allianz Riviera and mandated Nice to build a barricade at the side of the stadium.
The punishments French Ligue 1 slammed on Marseille and Nice
Over two weeks after Marseille and Nice’s French Ligue 1 game was abandoned, the French Ligue 1 disciplinary committee has rolled out a series of punishments for both teams.
For OGC Nice, the league body has deducted two points from their points, one of which is suspended. This means that they are left with 7 points in two wins and a draw including their suspended point.
Marseille and Nice will replay the abandoned game behind closed doors at a neutral venue on a yet-to-be-announced date and time. Nice will also play one other league game behind closed doors.
As for Marseille, a member of the club’s staff, Pablo Fernandez who was involved in the scuffle has been suspended until June 2022. A player of the club, Alvaro Gonzalez was slammed with a two-game suspension.
As for Dimitri Payet who happened to be Marseille’s player at the center of the crisis, French Ligue 1 gave him only a match suspension.
