The decision took a long time to come. As the Lyonnais arrived at the Stade Vélodrome shortly before 7 p.m. to prepare for the clash against OM this Sunday, their bus was the target of paving stones and projectiles, injuring Fabio Grosso and his assistant, Raffaele Longo.
The Italian technician, hit in the left eye and forehead, appeared with an imposing bandage around his head as he left the infirmary where he had been brought, staggering, after his arrival at the stadium.
Given the events, and after a long crisis meeting, the decision was taken by the Professional Football League to cancel the match just a few minutes before the scheduled kick-off time. The announcement was greeted by a reaction from Marseille supporters, who were waiting for the start of the match.
In a press conference, the match referee, Mr. François Letexier, announced the cancellation of the match: “This crisis meeting made it possible to take the opinions of the various stakeholders, following the findings of the injuries of the various members of the Olympique Lyonnais staff. We took into account the opinion of the Lyonnais who did not want to play the match and we also followed the LFP protocol in this matter which indicates that when an actor is injured and his participation is compromised , the meeting should not take place. The decision was therefore made not to start the meeting. The rest of the events will be reports made to the competent authorities.”
“Our team wanted to play”
For his part, OL president John Textor assured Prime Video that the Lyonnais wanted to play: “The League let us know that we had to speak to the team and that we were going to make a decision regardless of what we were going to ask. Our team wanted to play. I’m proud of the captain because it’s very moving. We saw blood everywhere. The decision was independent of us. These are shocking scenes. The coach has a big injury but was not feeling well. »
The LFP then published a press release on social networks giving more details: “During the meeting of the crisis unit which took place following the incidents that occurred outside the Vélodrome stadium on the route of his bus, the Olympique Lyonnais has made known its opposition to taking part in the meeting given the circumstances. In consultation with Olympique de Marseille and the public authorities, the OM-OL meeting will therefore not take place. It will now be up to the Competitions Commission to decide on the fate of this meeting by application of article 544 of the competition regulations. »
