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timeline of a grotesque evening where French football has hit rock bottom

STORY – The expected shock between Lyon and Marseille was interrupted after 5 minutes. The story of an evening like Ligue 1 unfortunately offers us too often this season.

And the match ended. At the 5e minute of this Lyon-Marseille which looked promising, the twenty-two players left the lawn following regrettable incidents. Chronology.

The trigger for incidents

20h50 : Dimitri Payet alerts the referee when he must take a corner. The reason ? The first throws of projectiles coming from a platform of Lyon supporters. Mr Buquet thus goes towards one of the delegates present to calm the spirits.

20h51 : The warnings were not enough. While Dimitri Payet wants to take this corner, an almost full water bottle hits him near his head. The leader of OM collapses, his teammates come to the aid, one of them seriously insulting the opposing supporters. On the ground, Payet is being treated while some OL fans hurl abuse at him. Already hit by a projectile in Nice at the end of August, the Reunionese is the target of the ire of some irresponsible fans. Beginning of a dismal evening.

Dimitri Payet PHILIPPE DESMAZES / AFP

20h55 : The Marseillais, joined by a Payet who got up, go to the locker room. The Lyonnais leave the lawn in their turn under a few whistles. Beginning of a long wait for the Lyon public when it should be remembered that OM supporters were not allowed to travel.

The interminable wait

21h20 : Several sources announce that the supporter who targeted Payet was spotted and arrested by the authorities, before being evacuated by the stadium.

21h30 : The referee, Mr Buquet, does not want to resume the match according to Prime Video, broadcaster of the match, due to the lack of security for the players. The clock is ticking as a few supporters leave the stands.

22h05 : In a press release, the Prefect of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Rhône region affirms that the decision to resume the match belongs to the referee and not to the prefect. Ubuesque.

The announcement of a possible takeover

22h07 : The stadium announcer takes the floor and announces that the match will resume but that at the slightest incident, it will be definitively stopped. The Lyon public regains hope and the local players are warming up on the lawn.

22h20 : If the OL players are on the lawn, the Marseillais are furious at this announcement and do not want to resume the debates, Alvaro Gonzalez even banging violently on a door to show his dissatisfaction. After leaving the crisis unit, the referee then moved himself in the locker room of OM to assess the psychological state of the Phocéens and in particular Dimitri Payet.

22h27 : After the Prefect, it’s the League’s turn to react by means of a press release. The LFP thus returns the ball to the Prefect, indicating that they regret the Prefect’s decision to resume the match.

22h40 : Nearly two hours after the end of the match, the public decides to leave in large numbers. There are not many people left in the stadium in front of the inevitable.

22h42 : The Groupama Stadium announcer returns to the pitch and announces the final end of the match on the referee’s decision due to the lack of security for the players. The end of a special and, above all, grotesque evening.

The actors react

23h00 : First to be invited to react to incidents in front of the microphones of Prime Video, broadcaster of the meeting, Jean-Michel Aulas. The president of OL tried to minimize the incidents: “The bottle that was thrown at Dimitri created an incredible situation. The security services reacted immediately, he (the author of the bottle throw) was arrested. He is a single individual, who is not in touch with the groups of supporters (lyonnais). It was imagined with the prefect that the match could resume, the referee had decided so in front of the prosecutor, the DDSP (departmental director of public security). And when he returned to announce to the players, there was a violent reaction from Marseille who demanded that Mr. Buquet go and ask for news of Dimitri».

23h10 : Pablo Longoria, president of OM, in turn came to the microphones to give news of his affected player: “It was the club’s position that the referee should make the decision. (…) Dimitri is affected psychologically, it is not normal. We have always condemned any type of violence, it affects everyone. No one who loves soccer can be happy tonight. The shock was a bit violent, he was especially very touched, with ice on his head in the locker room. As for the referee, when he came to our locker room, he always said that his sporting decision was to stop the match.»

23h25 : Faced with the seriousness of the facts, the referee Mr Ruddy Buquet came to give his version and contradicted the one given by Jean-Michel Aulas: “My decision has always been not to resume the game. There is the field and there is the extra-sportsman but the decision ultimately came back to me and I made it. (…) We would have liked to come and talk under other conditions, the world of football and sport in general are waiting for other acts. A welcome word of the end while the League and the authorities will have to take their responsibilities. The disciplinary committee of the LFP will also meet urgently from this Monday to examine “These new extremely serious facts”.

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