After a rather pleasant start to the match, where the Niçois Kasper Dolberg opened the scoring in the 48th thanks to a great collective action, the meeting between OGC Nice and Olympique de Marseille turned into a nightmare.
The incident begins in the 74th minute, when Marseille captain Dimitri Payet goes to the corner post in front of the popular South stand, where the famous group of supporters of the South Brigade is held, already reprimanded in the first half by the arbitrator.
The playmaker receives a bottle in the back, thrown by one of the members of the same stand.
He falls to the ground, and taken by a gesture of humor he grabs the bottle and sends it back where it came from.
His teammates Alvaro Gonzalez and Mattéo Guendouzi immediately run towards the kop to harangue the area from which the bottle came.
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An invasion of land, then chaos
A series of gestures which lead to the invasion of the field by the ultras of the Southern Brigade, who had already launched several projectiles during the previous corners.
Some want to do battle with Marseille players, hardly protected by a completely overwhelmed security service.
The Marseillais are victims of blows on behalf of the supporters, like one of the first invaders putting a "
high-kick
»To Dimitri Payet.
The OM coach, the bloody Jorge Sampaoli, is untenable and seems to want to go and fight those who attacked his men.
Some foreign players from both teams seem totally overwhelmed by the situation, such as Danish striker Kasper Dolberg walking headlong towards the locker room in the midst of the chaos.
Konrad de la Fuente, a newcomer from Marseille, observes the scene in the distance with astonished eyes.
In the stands, Longoria and Rivère almost came to blows.
"
They grabbed each other by the collar and the bodyguards had to separate them,
" a witness told AFP in the presidential gallery.
A Nice supporter kicking Dimitri Payet VALERY HACHE / AFP
It then took very long minutes for the security service and the police to control the situation, the CRS having had to come to the aid of the stewards.
The players are gradually returning to the locker room, although the situation is still totally confused and the actors of both teams also seem to want to settle some scores.
In the corridors, leaders and coaches from both sides continue the discussion in the stands and raise their voices.
The president of OGC Nice Jean-Pierre Rivère defending his supporters when Pablo Longoria, president of OM, lets know that the attitude is "
zero
", forming a circle with his fingers against the leaders of Nice.
1h30 of waiting and talks
Then come 90 minutes of waiting, with very little information from anywhere. Each team in the locker room, the officials are busy to see if the match can resume. Very quickly, we learn that the police ensure that the security is sufficient for the game to resume. Photos of Marseille players come out. We see defender Luan Peres injured in the neck, like Matteo Guendouzi. Later, Dimitri Payet also exposes his marks on the back, after the projectile received. On the ground, the president of OGC Nice Jean-Pierre Rivère goes back and forth between officials and supporters, asking the Southern Brigade to calm things down and giving the latest information.
At 11:15 p.m., he announced that the referee had decided to resume the match.
At the microphone of Prime Video, he ensures that the conditions are met to resume, "
without any problem
".
11:40 pm, the players of OGC Nice are therefore back on the field and are warming up.
Remaining in the locker room, the Olympians have no desire for the match to resume and want to "
go home
" as explained by Jean-Pierre Rivère.
The President of Nice will once again take the floor to ask that the match be resumed: “
Public order is above football so the match must resume.
"
The Marseillais losing by forfeit, Pablo Longoria wants to "create a precedent"
The Marseillais will not return to the field.
Faced with the request to resume the match by the referee and the LFP, the Niçois are back in place in the position where the match was suspended, without opponents.
The ball is placed by Benoit Bastien at the corner where Dimitri Payet had left it, and the referee whistles a lunar kick-off, a matter of procedure.
The referee then notes the absence of the Marseillais, declared as a forfeit on their part and therefore a 3-0 defeat.
The Niçois "resuming" the match in the absence of OM players Prime Video screenshot
The case will certainly not end there, since the president of OM says he wants to "set
a precedent for French football
", after his players were "
attacked during the invasion of the field
". In a video posted on OM's Twitter account, Pablo Longoria also explains that the referee would have been in favor of stopping the match, but that the LFP would have decided to resume the match, "
for a matter of public order
”.
The President of Nice replied at a press conference: “
I know very well that the match could have resumed.
I was sure it would go very well.
Unfortunately the Marseillais did not wish to resume the match.
Of which act.
"Jean-Pierre Rivère also points the finger at the reaction of certain Olympians whom he accuses of having"
set fire to the powder
".
On social networks, many personalities criticize the attitude of the Nice supporters and that of the President of Nice, whom some deem "
irresponsible
", giving their support to the Marseillais.
An investigation has already been opened by the League on Sunday evening, which specified that no police custody had been made at this stage.
OGC Nice - Olympique de Marseille, the overflows
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