SC Bastia’s home game with Olympique Lyonnais in Ligue 1 was abandoned at halftime after supporters of the Corsican side twice invaded the pitch and attacked the visiting players on Sunday.
A hardcore section of home fans at the Stade Armand Cesari targeted Lyon’s players as they warmed up before the game, causing it to be delayed by more than 50 minutes, and then again as the two sides went in for the break with the score at 0-0.
“We must stop, we must stop, they hit the players,” Lyon coach Bruno Genesio told club president Jean-Michel Aulas in the corridors of the stadium. “We’re not going to war.”
Photo: AFP
Bottom-of-the-table SC Bastia are likely to have points deducted for the latest trouble involving their supporters.
Bastia were punished in February over racist abuse directed at OGC Nice striker Mario Balotelli, while the Nice team bus had its windows smashed.
In the first incident, Lyon players fled to the dressing rooms and the kickoff was consequently delayed as captains and officials from the two teams and league officials held talks over whether the game should go ahead.
Lyon’s players had been finishing their warm-up when about 50 SC Bastia fans — many of them dressed in black — attacked them, a reporter at the scene said.
The trouble — the second time in four days that Lyon have been caught up in violence — saw former Manchester United winger Memphis Depay reportedly among the Lyon players confronted by SC Bastia fans in ugly scenes.
Stewards and security staff rushed to intervene, and for a few minutes there was chaos and scuffles until the playing surface was cleared and the Lyon players took refuge behind a metal gate in the tunnel.
Lyon initially refused to leave the dressing room again, but eventually did so to warm up for a second time and the match kicked off soon after, with stewards lined up on the edge of the pitch.
However, they were powerless to prevent more disturbances at the halftime whistle, triggered by a confrontation between a SC Bastia official and Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes, who had to be restrained by security men and appeared to be the chief target of the mob.
Lyon’s players huddled in the dressing room and later left the stadium in their team bus after riot police dispersed about 100 waiting SC Bastia fans massed at the gates by firing tear gas.
The league’s disciplinary commission is certain to hit SC Bastia hard after it docked them one point — suspended — and ordered the club to close its East Stand for three games over the racist chants aimed at Balotelli.
On Thursday last week, fans streamed onto the pitch in Lyon’s UEFA Europa League home clash with Besiktas and the start of the quarter-final first leg was delayed by 45 minutes as officials attempted to clear the playing area of fans.
Home supporters poured onto the pitch as they attempted to protect themselves from firecrackers and other objects raining down from the stands above.
On the pitch elsewhere in France, Olympique de Marseille stayed on course for a Europa League spot with a 4-0 win over AS Saint-Etienne, who have not won at the Stade Velodrome since 1979.
Winger Florian Thauvin scored twice, Bafetimbi Gomis took his league tally to 17 goals and Dimitri Payet added the fourth in stoppage-time.
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