Marseille players and coach suspended after brawl | Page 2 | Sunday Observer

Marseille players and coach suspended after brawl

12 September, 2021
Alvaro Gonzalez-Dimitri Payet
Alvaro Gonzalez-Dimitri Payet

Alvaro Gonzalez has been banned for two games with Marseille team-mate Dimitri Payet handed a suspended one-match ban.

Nice have been docked two points, one of which is suspended, and must replay their Ligue 1 game with Marseille after crowd trouble led to the match on August 22 being abandoned.

Marseille’s Dimitri Payet was hit by a bottle and threw it back into the crowd, causing fans to storm the pitch. Payet, team-mate Alvaro Gonzalez and Marseille coach Pablo Fernandez have all been sanctioned.

The match will be replayed behind closed doors and at a neutral location.

Nice’s punishment included a total of three games to be played behind closed doors.

The Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) announced its disciplinary decisions on Wednesday night with Payet handed a suspended one-match ban.

The Frenchman’s team-mate Alvaro Gonzalez has been banned for two matches while Marseille physio Pablo Fernandez has been given a nine-month touchline suspension, until June 30, 2022.

The match at Nice’s Allianz Riviera stadium was attended by a crowd of more than 32,000 with spectators allowed back inside grounds in France after the majority of the 2020-21 season was played behind closed doors due to coronavirus restrictions.

However, with Nice leading 1-0, it was abandoned in the 75th minute after fans stormed the pitch when Payet launched a bottle back into the stands having been struck in the back with it as he prepared to take a corner.

After a long delay, Nice’s players came out to finish the game - but Marseille’s players refused to.

Authorities in France subsequently ordered a four-match stand closure and arrested a man.

The incident occurred two weeks after Marseille’s 3-2 win at Montpellier was also held up when fans pelted the pitch with bottles. (BBC Sports)

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