These are two additional testimonies of this nightmarish evening for French football. The clash between Olympique de Marseille and Olympique Lyonnais was postponed this Sunday evening after the buses of OL players and supporters were attacked by Marseille supporters. Lyon coach Fabio Grosso suffered a serious facial injury.
Two men, two supporter bus drivers, who suffered the events, recount what they experienced. “It was by radio that we learned that the players’ bus had been stoned. The police ordered us to stop the bus. We waited a little less than an hour, and when we finally got back to the stadium, it was the start of the first of the four buses being stoned,” begins Fayçal in Le Progrès.
“My window was shattered”
“Everything went well until arriving at the Vélodrome where the coaches were stoned. Stone throwing, homemade rockets, etc. It’s unfortunate to say but it was to fight it out,” adds Farid on BFMTV. There is only one solution to protect yourself: get to the Orange Vélodrome as quickly as possible. “The windows exploded. The CRS asked us to rush to protect themselves inside the stadium. The police were overwhelmed. I was shocked and scared,” the driver continues.
“My driver’s side window was shattered. We were able to go to the underground car parks reserved for supporters. There, we no longer feared anything. The supporters went up to the stands,” continues Fayçal, who assures that “the action was carried out by people wearing hoods and scarves from OM and the South Winners.
It was only at 8:41 p.m., once the supporters and players had entered the stadium, that the officialization of the postponement of the meeting was announced by Vélodrome speaker André Fournel. That is, only four minutes before the theoretical kick-off time. However, the 64,000 spectators left the stadium without incident.
