Ligue 1 match abandoned after fans storm pitch for brawl
Bottles were thrown at players and punches were exchanged in the altercation.
Marseille's Ligue 1 match against Nice on Sunday has been abandoned with the visiting club refusing to emerge from the dressing room after Nice fans invaded the pitch to spark a brawl.
The referee blew for the final whistle in the 75th minute with only the Nice players insight following a brief suspension to proceedings, and according to Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) rules, Marseille have been handed an automatic 3-0 defeat pending further review.
Members of the crowd had pelted Marseille players with objects in the lead-up to the chaotic fight, and fans charged the playing surface when forward Dimitri Payet's responded to them after being struck near the corner flag.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
What happened?
Supporters at the Allianz Riviera had been throwing objects at Marseille players throughout the match, and Payet threw a bottle back into the crowd in the 74th minute after being struck as he prepared to take a corner kick.
Soon after, fans invaded the pitch, dropping a billboard to access the field in order to battle with the Marseille players.
A coach embroiled in the chaos appeared to connect on a punch thrown at a supporter.
In the rush, one person appeared to be injured before being evacuated on a stretcher when calm returned.
Nice led 1-0 at the time of the incident.
Forced finish
"We will not play! We will not play!" said Marseille president Pablo Longoria to officials in the tunnel (via Amazon) when the match was first suspended.
However, LFP officials and Nice tried to proceed anyway.
"We need to set precedents for French football," Longoria said to RMC once the match was abandoned. "The referee was with us, he confirmed that to us, that safety was not assured.
"His decision was to abandon the match, but the LFP decided to restart the match. It is not acceptable for us."
Marseille targetted again
Two weeks ago Marseille's match against Montpellier was briefly halted because of the crowd throwing objects at visiting players.
Marseille midfielder Valentin Rongier came away with a busted lip from that match.
Source: Goal.com
