The Lyonnais did not take off after the LFP’s decision to replay the match against OM on December 6 at the Vélodrome, with the public, despite the serious incidents of October 29. OL’s football director, Vincent Ponsot, confirmed to the press this Friday the Rhone club’s intention to appeal this decision and reiterated the request to play on neutral ground.
“We cannot understand”
“We want to be able to play football without being afraid or risking anything. We don’t want a sporting sanction, because the Marseille players have nothing to do with it. We want to play on neutral ground, he insisted. We’re not going to stop there. We owe it to the players and the management. »
OL, which is awaiting the outcome of the appeals, regrets “a political decision” by the disciplinary committee. It declared itself incompetent because the incidents took place outside the stadium. “We cannot understand, we have a coach who almost lost an eye,” reacted Vincent Ponsot, who calls on the commission to “mark the occasion” in the face of this attack on a coach, unprecedented in France.
“The old article 129 of the general regulations indicates that all clubs are responsible for the behavior of their supporters,” recalled Ponsot, specifying that this article “did not speak of territoriality”. Referring to an “ambush”, he recalls that the two men brought into immediate appearance are OM supporters, “two Fanatics”.
According to him, the “Support for the Arrested” banner, deployed during the OM match against Lille, “clearly demonstrates the link between the supporters and the perpetrators of violence. Likewise, the League generally suggests putting a delegate on the bus. It’s good that she feels involved in the journey to the stadium,” explained Vincent Ponsot.
Grosso does not want to play a match “with a tank”
He also deplores the position of the prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône, “who demands a ban on OL supporters, a more secure bus”. “So it’s our fault,” the Lyon leader was surprised. “Who’s to say this won’t happen again? » worried midfielder Corentin Tolisso, stunned by the lack of sanction. “Are we going to go back there as if nothing happened?” I was really scared. »
For his part, the coach, Fabio Grosso, declared “to be almost sure that we would not go back there”. “I hope that a strong decision will be made because what happened is very serious, very strong, and cannot be passed off as a normal thing. It’s a difficult memory and we shouldn’t expect something more serious than what happened to me,” said the technician, who “does not want to think that we are going to play a match with a tank.”