The Ligue 1 clash between OM and OL, scheduled for this Sunday at the Vélodrome, ultimately did not take place. The match was postponed after the Lyonnais bus was stoned and Fabio Grosso was injured in the face. RMC Sport tells you in detail about this eventful evening in Marseille.
Pavements, bottles and smoke bombs thrown at point blank range by a group of around a hundred hooded people. Around 7 p.m., a rain of projectiles fell on the OL bus this Sunday as it passed through a street in Marseille, despite the escort of two CRS trucks. The incident took place two hours before the clash against OM, scheduled at the Vélodrome, at the end of the tenth day of Ligue 1. A match classified as high risk by the authorities.
Damaged in the ambush, the vehicle arrives at the stadium with a broken window. Inside, the Lyonnais are in shock. Fabio Grosso and Raffaele Longo were seriously affected during the stone attack. The Italian coach, who received a glass bottle just above the eyelid, leaves the bus with a bloody face. His deputy has debris in his eye.
Twelve stitches for Grosso
Around 7:15 p.m., the first images of the bus and Grosso began to circulate. The incident quickly made the front pages of news sites. A meeting takes place in the OL locker room in the presence of the players. Meanwhile, their coach, who has a deep cut, has twelve stitches put in, before appearing in the corridors of the Vélodrome with a thick white bandage.
We then learned that three buses of OL supporters were also victims of attacks during their journey through Marseille. The one from Lyon 1950, which opened the procession, suffered significant damage, with exploded windows. Several people inside were injured.
Incidents in the parking lot of Lyon supporters
Around 8 p.m., the match seemed uncertain. Incidents break out in the stadium. Lyon supporters present in the visitors’ park try to approach the Virage Nord by challenging the OM ultras. Some, hanging from safety nets, make Nazi salutes and make monkey cries. Security intervenes to try to restore calm.
On the pitch, the assistants of the two teams place cones and balls to prepare for the warm-up. But the players don’t come out. At a minimum, the match’s kickoff, scheduled for 8:45 p.m., will be delayed. At the same time, videos of Lyon buses being stoned appear on the networks. They bear witness to the violence of the attacks, which took place in the same place.
A crisis meeting to confirm the postponement
While OM supporters warm their voices by launching loud chants in the stands, a delegation from the Marseille club, led by president Pablo Longoria, his advisor Jean-Pierre Papin and coach Gennaro Gattuso, comes to the meeting Lyonnais.
A crisis meeting is organized with the referees, the authorities and representatives of the two clubs. It leads to the postponement of the meeting. Around 8:40 p.m., the announcer let the public know by announcing the evacuation of the stadium. The Marseille supporters left the Vélodrome as best they could, annoyed by the outcome of this evening. Referee François Letexier comes to speak to the media. “OL did not want the meeting to take place,” he assures.
Oudéa-Castera validates the report on RMC
In the process, John Textor reacts on Prime Video. The owner of OL initially assures that his team wanted to play the match and gives less than reassuring news from Fabio Grosso. Amélie Oudéa-Castera, the Minister of Sports, validates the decision to postpone on RMC. “We need to mark the occasion,” she says, calling for severe sanctions against the perpetrators of these attacks. Bruno Bernard, the president of the Greater Lyon Metropolis denounces on the networks “an attack by Marseille hooligans” and demands that they be “banned from football”.
Misunderstanding between Textor, the LFP and the referee
Around 9 p.m., the Professional Football League contradicted Textor’s first version by publishing a press release explaining that OL had asked not to play the match. Pablo Longoria then reacts on Prime Video. “Dismayed and angry”, the president of OM attacks the “unconscious” who “spoiled the party” “It’s completely unacceptable”, he protests.
Around 9:15 p.m., the Bouches-du-Rhône police headquarters announced that seven people had been arrested in connection with the incidents, including two for stone-throwing. François Letexier speaks again on Prime Video and maintains that the Lyonnais did not want to play the match, specifying that Textor was not present during the crisis meeting (there was the head of security of the ‘OL).
OM and OL will file a complaint
The Lyonnais remain confined to the Vélodrome, waiting for the tension to ease a little. Dejan Lovren rants on the networks and calls on the French government. “If the law does not change, one day it will be too late,” writes the Croatian defender. Around 9:30 p.m., John Textor spoke again on RMC, finally explaining that the OL players first wanted to play the match, before wanting a postponement upon learning that their coach would not be able to be on the bench.
Around 9:45 p.m., OM published a press release to deplore “unacceptable incidents”. The Marseille club, which will file a complaint against Around 10 p.m., OL in turn released a press release announcing that a complaint would be filed after these serious incidents.
The Lyonnais then wait for their bus to be put back into working order. The broken window is covered with cardboard taped to the entire height of the glass. The interior of the bus is cleaned and vacuumed.
The Lyonnais come to greet their supporters
Around 10:30 p.m., the OL players, the staff and Fabio Grosso come onto the Vélodrome pitch to greet their supporters who remained in the visitors’ park. The Italian coach hears his name chanted. He responds with a hand on his heart and applause.
A quarter of an hour later, the Lyonnais finally left the stadium in a substitute bus, theirs not being secure enough despite the repair of the damaged window. Head to the airport, where a plane is waiting to take them back to Lyon. The end of a particularly eventful and chaotic evening in Bouches-du-Rhône.