(Saint-Étienne) A hiccup at the start or an “unusual” match event, to use Lionel Messi’s expression? Morocco-Argentina, the men’s football match that opened the Games competitions on Wednesday in Saint-Étienne, was interrupted for two hours after a few disgruntled supporters invaded the pitch.
Morocco leads 2-1 when Argentinian Cristian Medina thinks he has equalized after two blocked balls, a shot on the post and another on the crossbar (2-2). A goal scored after… sixteen minutes of added time.
An unusual length of time that Moroccans, players and supporters alike, who were numerous in the stands, do not understand. “We went to see the referee and asked him how much time was left: each time, he would say ‘Five more minutes, five more minutes’, I have never seen that in my life,” reacted Bilal El Khannouss.
After the equaliser, around twenty Morocco supporters entered the pitch and a few bottles and cups were thrown from the stands, an AFP journalist observed.
Without having time to check the validity of the goal on video, referee Glen Nyberg sent the players back to the locker room, without blowing the final whistle, which was therefore interrupted. Some of the crowd left the stadium of their own accord, thinking that the match was over before a message invited the last spectators to evacuate the stands to resume the game behind closed doors.
It was only two hours later, in front of empty stands, that the players returned, the time to carry out security checks according to a FIFA press release. The referee then invalidated the Argentinian equalizer for offside, ordered a few minutes of replay and blew the final whistle of a four-hour match that ended in a Moroccan victory, much to the dismay of the Argentinians.
Was there a breach by the stewards? During the match, two Moroccan supporters entered the pitch to take a photo with Achraf Hakimi. These intrusions are quite common during football matches, including the World Cup.
“There was an intrusion by about twenty spectators, mostly minors, which did not give rise to clashes,” said the Loire prefect Alexandre Rochatte, contacted by AFP. According to him, the intrusion was rather “joyous”, “festive”, and concerned supporters of both teams. There were no arrests, he noted.
“This is obviously an event that should not happen,” admitted the security director of the Olympic organizing committee Bruno Le Ray during a briefing with the media on Thursday, while refuting that this “incident” be described as a “security incident.”
“I deplore the attitude of some supporters during the match, which tarnished the image of our loyal fans. Such behavior has no place in football,” commented Achraf Hakimi, captain of the Atlas Lions on the social network X.
Stolen jewelry?
The same reassuring tone from the Olympic organizers: the match “was suspended due to a field invasion by some spectators. The match then resumed and was able to finish safely. Paris-2024 is working with the stakeholders concerned to understand the causes and identify appropriate actions.”
Paris-2024 and FIFA believe that everything necessary has been done to ensure that the match can be completed safely.
The beaten Argentines, who claim that watches and rings were stolen from their locker room during training on Tuesday, are not enjoying the scenario: “It’s a scandal, this is not a local tournament, it’s the Olympic Games,” said Javier Mascherano, the coach, claiming to have been the target of “a million objects” during the match.
Claudio Tapia, the head of the Argentine Federation, said he had “filed a complaint” with FIFA, which had not received a complaint as of Thursday morning. The Argentine daily La Nacion cried “Olympic scandal” and described “chaos in France”, in a sporting context already tense between the two countries.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, long queues were seen outside the Stade de France for rugby sevens and the Parc des Princes before Spain-Uzbekistan in football after the gates opened late. “But things were able to be resolved and things were able to start on time,” said Gérald Darmanin, the French Interior Minister.