Toulouse and Montpeiller’s Ligue 1 game was mostly called off due to chaos in the stands, as visiting and home fans battled and later disrupted the game by hurling tear gas on the pitch.
Prior to the event, Toulouse had a four-goal advantage over their opponents in the 57th minute.
After the fans had thrown the pepper spray on the pitch, players from both teams had to cover their noses and eyes with their shirts as they found it difficult to breathe.
Due to that, play was promptly stopped, and referee Jeremie Pignard instructed the players to head right into the locker room for 15 minutes.
After the gas ran out, the game resumed and the players re-entered the field. Despite receiving a red card in the 60th minute, the home team won the game 4-2 after a lengthy second half extra period.
Nicolas Cozza gave the visitors the lead, and Toulouse fell behind after just seven minutes. As a result of goals from Stijn Spierings, Zakaria Aboukhlal, and Fare Chaibi, they fought back strongly and led 3-1 after 31 minutes.
Toulouse are still behind Montpellier in the Ligue 1 standings by one point, despite their victory.
Three minutes after the half, Brecht Dejaegere added a fourth before the game was stopped because of the incident.
In the French League, fan fighting has always been a problem as clubs worry more about how to handle their supporters.
OGC Nice fans were prevented from attending the PSG game due to the clash against Olympic Marseille in the Ligue 1.
Toulouse presently holds the 12th spot in Ligue 1 with 11 points after nine league games. Although they have had trouble scoring this season, a victory over Montpeiller is a convincing one.
How French Football Federation Can Stop Clashes Of Fans
Fans are necessary because football games cannot be exciting without their enthusiasm. In fact, it seems like they are the only ones who can motivate players and make them want to score more goals.
Clubs just need to construct a larger fence using net to divide home and away supporters in order to prevent such incidents in the future.
Recently, fans clashed in Indonesia and police used tear gas to try to break up the fight. This resulted in many deaths among the fans.
You can tell that Germany has a great understanding of how to handle fan problems by looking at how stadiums are constructed there. To avoid similar issues in future, the French Football Federation should adopt German methodology.
What Next For Toulouse and Montpeller
To continue its Ligue 1 season, Toulouse will travel to Olympic Lyon on October 7, 2022. Given Olympic Lyon’s recent performance, they are going to find this to be a very challenging contest.
Toulouse will move up to position 9 on the table with a victory.
While Montpellier will lock horn with Monaco on October 9, 2022. Monaco is really the team to beat given their recent performances in the league.
