The serious incidents which caused the postponement of the Marseille-Lyon match on Sunday and the injury of Lyon coach Fabio Grosso were “a defeat for all”, regretted Gennaro Gattuso, the OM coach, on Thursday. “It was a defeat for everyone, for my team and for that of Lyon. It’s a defeat for football,” declared the Italian technician at a press conference.
Scheduled for Sunday evening, the match was postponed to December 6. The bus transporting OL players and staff to the Stade Vélodrome was stoned and Grosso was seriously injured in the face. “Seeing a stadium full, with 65,000 people, children coming with their parents who are crying because there is no match, all due to the fault of four or five people who for me are not supporters of the OM but inconsiderate people, that’s something unacceptable,” added Gattuso.
“A lot of frustration, disappointment and a little disgust too”
The OM coach also returned to the injury of his compatriot Fabio Grosso, with whom he was world champion in 2006. “There were moments of concern. I didn’t see the first images of Fabio when he arrived and at the beginning, I was told about two or three stitches, something not very serious,” he said. “I only saw him an hour and a half later and frankly, he did well. Fifteen stitches in the face, that’s not trivial. He could have lost his eye,” he added, specifying that he had made a video call to Grosso the day after the incidents.
Also questioned at a press conference, midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia for his part spoke of a “fairly nightmarish evening”. “It has no place in football at all. This is something unacceptable. There was a lot of frustration, disappointment and a little disgust among us,” he said.