The hot potato is in the hands, this Wednesday evening, of the League’s disciplinary committee. Thursday, Vincent Labrune, the president of the LFP, announced in our columns to contact the disciplinary body regarding the violent attack on the Lyon bus by Marseillais, on Sunday October 29, just before OM-OL, causing the serious injury of coach Fabio Grosso and his assistant Raffaele Longo.
A meeting canceled and finally postponed to December 6, without us knowing for the moment whether it will be played at home, nor if it will welcome the public. “I requested, under Article 4 of the disciplinary regulations, that the disciplinary committee be referred to on an exceptional basis so that the file can be processed in its entirety, and in particular in order to assess the areas of responsibility in the conditions of access to the Vélodrome stadium”, indicated the former president of OM (June 2011-July 2016).
Case law dictates that the commission, which will listen to the Marseille and Lyon leaders, only deals with disturbances that took place inside an enclosure or just in front, where the host club is judged responsible for possible slippages. Which is not the case with the stoning of the OL bus, which fell into an ambush, but several hundred meters from the Vélodrome stadium.
The OL bus was stoned before arriving at the Vélodrome stadium. (A. Martin/The Team)
Therefore, the disciplinary body should not respond to Labrune’s request since, in its remit, it is interested in what happens in the stadium itself (lawn, stands, corridors, lounges, etc.) , in its “immediate periphery” (entrance, access roads, etc.), but not to what takes place beyond this perimeter, which is the responsibility of the public authorities.
Lyon exposed to sanctions
At the sporting level, OM could therefore get away with it, even if three investigations have been opened by the public prosecutor of Marseille, Nicolas Bessone, in particular for “voluntary violence in meetings with premeditation”. On the Lyon side, the commission has already taken up the Nazi salutes, monkey cries and racist insults uttered by supporters present that evening in the Marseille enclosure. She has already put the case under investigation and will deliver her verdict on November 22. Given the seriousness of the acts committed by a handful of far-right Les Gones fans, among the 600 present in Marseille, sanctions will inevitably be imposed.
They can take the form of a partial closed session of the Groupama Stadium for one or more upcoming matches, a travel ban for Lyon supporters, or even a suspended point withdrawal if the committee wants to strike very hard. .
