This Sunday evening, a new Ligue 1 meeting did not come to an end following an incident. The shock of the 14th day between Lyon and OM at Groupama Stadium was definitively stopped shortly before 11 p.m. by referee Ruddy Buquet. Almost two hours earlier, a Lyon supporter had sent a bottle full of water at Dimitri Payet from the stands. The match was then interrupted and the two teams returned to the locker room.
This umpteenth unfortunate episode in L1 since the start of the 2021-2022 season made the Minister of Sports, Roxana Maracineanu react vehemently this Sunday evening. “What happened tonight is unacceptable. It is intolerable that we can attack the players in the game by attacking them in this way, contends the Minister of Sports. My thoughts are with Dimitri Payet. Fortunately, the individual who threw this projectile was identified and left the stadium. If he appears to have acted alone, which the investigation will confirm or not, the insults that followed are equally heartbreaking. We must punish this act because we can no longer leave games held hostage by such dangerous individuals who attack the integrity of the players. I have indicated that I am in favor of individual sanctions and I remain on this line. “
Roxana Maracineanu continues. “After the serious incidents at the start of the season, the Ministry of Justice is committed to a rapid treatment of this type of case. Without immediate and radical awareness of the clubs to guarantee safety on the pitch and in the stands, we are going into the wall. The League will certainly have to clarify its regulations so that such an act of aggression on a player in the game results in an automatic stoppage of the match. Enough is enough. It must stop. “
