It is a scene that shocked France in football and even beyond. On November 21, just a few minutes after the kick-off of the highly anticipated match between Olympique de Marseille and Olympique Lyonnais, one of the stars of OM, Dimitri Payet, collapsed to the ground as he was about to take a corner. The reason ? A malicious individual threw a water bottle in his face while he was near the stands. Match stopped, imbroglio between the referee and the two clubs and Dimitri Payet stunned and no longer able to continue the game.
A little less than a month after this incident, which earned his attacker a heavy sentence, the 34-year-old Marseille footballer made a point of writing a column in The world in order to come back to this event, which is far from being isolated according to him. “Since the resumption of the Ligue 1 championship, scenes of violence have multiplied in the stadiums. I have been the most publicized victim, even if I am not the only one to have been attacked in a particularly cowardly and unacceptable way “, he writes. Always marked by the aggression he suffered, Ludivine’s husband even goes so far as to ask the disturbing questions: “It’s the players, it’s us who kill. And, in this case, it’s me who takes the corners. I have to stop shooting them? Stop playing ? Tell me”.
I was hurt as much by the bottle as by the impression of being responsible for the violence
Very upset against the decision-making bodies, Dimitri Payet does not want his speech to be useless. “I would like the interministerial meeting on violence in the stadiums (note, scheduled for Thursday, December 16) not to be without a future”, he pleads. Almost a month after the incident, it is no longer both the physical and psychological injury that continues to hurt the Marseillais: “I was hurt as much by the bottle as by the feeling of being the person responsible for the violence and the stoppage of the match. I say stop! There are enough “, he gets carried away.
A courageous stand on the part of Dimitri Payet. Victim of projectile throws since the start of the season, the Marseille striker wants things to change quickly and he does not hesitate to bang his fist on the table.