French football was once again a victim of incidents this weekend. During the match between Lyon and Marseille, OM player Dimitri Payet received a bottle of water in his face thrown from the OL supporters’ stand. An incident which resulted in the stoppage of the match. The government has called a meeting with the football authorities. The LFP has decided to sanction the Olympique Lyonnais for the total closed door of its stadium as a precaution. Dimitri Payet has meanwhile announced to file a complaint as part of the investigation by the prosecutor of Lyon.
This incident is unfortunately not the first of its kind since the start of the 2021-2022 season. Since the resumption of the championship, several matches have been disrupted by the supporters. Back to the incidents from the start:
August 8, the derby between Montpellier and Marseille degenerates. OM player Valentin Rongier was hit in the head by a bottle, while he was celebrating his goal. Interruption of the match after new throws of projectiles.
August 22, the Breton derby between Rennes and Nantes turns sour. The supporters of the two teams try to fight it out. Two men will be tried in March 2022 for violence against a security guard.
Also on August 22, the Mediterranean derby between Nice and Marseille is marked by much more serious incidents. As he prepares to take his corner, Marseille’s Dimitri Payet is hit in the back by a jet from a plastic bottle, the player returns the projectile to the platform of the Nice ultras. In reaction, some of them invade the lawn. Blows are exchanged between supporters, but also between players and members of the staff. The referee is forced to call the actors back to the locker room. After an hour and a half of interruption, the meeting is definitively stopped.
Three days later, August 25, the first penalties of the Professional Football League fall. The incriminated stands at the Mosson stadium in Montpellier will be closed for three matches. For Nice-OM, the LFP initially sanctions the Côte d’Azur club for a meeting behind closed doors, as a precaution.
September 9, the disciplinary committee of the LFP inflicts on Nice a withdrawal of two points (including one suspended) as well as the total closed door of its stadium for three matches. Pablo Fernandez, an assistant to Marseille coach Jorge Sampaoli, is suspended until the end of the season for punching a Nice supporter who entered the pitch. The poster will also have to be replayed, on neutral ground, on October 27.
Despite these sanctions, many incidents occur September 18, again on the occasion of a derby, that of the North between Lens and Lille. Dozens of Lensois supporters invade the field to go to battle with Lille’s parking lot, from which several seats have been thrown. The clashes, limited by the intervention of the CRS, resulted in six minor injuries. The kick-off of the second half is delayed by around 30 minutes. Consequence: the withdrawal of a suspended point for both clubs. Lens was penalized with two total closed-door matches, while Lille saw its visitors’ parking lot closed during away matches until December 31, 2021.
the September 22, a bus of Bordeaux supporters falls into an “ambush” organized by some of their counterparts from Montpellier. The general brawl that followed left 16 slightly injured. The same day after the match between Angers and Marseille, dozens of OM supporters come out of the visitors’ area and destroy equipment before the stewards restore order. Result: a suspended withdrawal point for OM.
the 22 october, incidents occur before the match between Saint-Etienne and Angers. At the time of the pre-match protocol, several ultras from Saint-Etienne entered the lawn and sent rockets and smoke and damaged the goal nets, which had to be hastily mended.
During the first warm-up of the players, the kops had deployed banners stigmatizing the coach Claude Puel, the leaders and the players of ASSE, guilty according to them of the chaos in which their team finds itself, last in the standings. Saint-Etienne was sentenced to a total closed-door match and was ordered to close two stands for two matches.
the 24 october, an anti-LFP tifo is deployed during the OM-PSG match. Marseille supporters wanted to send a message to the Professional Football League with a huge “LFP MERDA” tifo deployed in the north bend of the velodrome stadium. On the other side, in the south bend, a large number of smoke bombs were ignited. At the end of the meeting, Dimitri Payet deplored the throwing of projectiles from the stands of OM. The disciplinary committee of the LFP sanctioned the club with a match behind closed doors.