‘Unacceptable acts’: The match between Marseille and Lyon was canceled on Sunday after incidents in the run-up to the game at the Stade Vélodrome when projectiles were targeted at the OL team bus, injuring coach Fabio Grosso, and buses of Lyon fans .
“With the advice of OL and the protocol, the decision was made not to start the game,” explained referee François Letexier, adding that the reports “have been forwarded to the relevant authorities, who will decide on the continuations.”
“We noted the opinion of OL, who did not want the game to take place,” the referee added.
During the meeting of the crisis team, which was set up after incidents on the trip to the Vélodrome, Olympique Lyonnais expressed its refusal to take part in the meeting given the circumstances, the LFP confirmed in a press release.
Lyon’s Italian coach Fabio Grosso and his assistant were injured.
In images from broadcaster Prime Video, the coach was seen with a bloody face and then a bandage on his head as he left the hospital in the corridors of the Stade Vélodrome.
A photo circulating on X (formerly Twitter) shows him lying on a stretcher with a wound on his left eyelid, arch and above his eyebrow.
“Disgusting pictures”
“These images are disgusting: seeing the stoned bus like that, the bloody face of Fabio Grosso… These are unacceptable acts that deny the values of football and sport itself.” “I hope that the investigation will be carried out very quickly, that the perpetrators will be found and severely punished,” Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra told AFP on the sidelines of a sports ceremony in Paris.
According to a source close to OL, the technician suffered numerous dizzinesses and multiple traumas and was taken to the hospital for further examinations.
“These are completely unacceptable circumstances. My first thought goes to Fabio Grosso, someone I respect and have known for a long time. I visited him as soon as I arrived at the stadium and saw his condition,” explained Pablo Longoria, OM head of the mixed zone.
Lyon President John Textor said on Prime Video on Sunday that he was “very angry”: “We are very angry,” he said into the channel’s microphone. “Everyone wanted to play […] even after the incident.
At around 6:45 p.m. the orienteering team’s bus was pelted with stones and four windows were broken, a police source said.
In addition, at least one bus was attacked by Lyon supporters and its windows were damaged, another police source told AFP.
According to an image shared by a Lyon supporter on X, several windows were broken. Seven people were arrested, including two for throwing objects at buses, Marseille police headquarters said.
After the game, police focused on evacuating the stadium as well as the safety of Lyon players and fans, another police source said.
After a disastrous start to the season, Lyon was last in Ligue 1 before this matchday 10.