The French sports minister Roxana Maracineanu has warned that the “survival of French football is at stake” following fan violence during Lyon’s game against Marseille on Sunday.
The match was initially suspended when Marseille’s Dimitri Payet was hit by a water bottle after only five minutes.
While the stadium announcer said that the game would restart, with Lyon even emerging to warm-up, it was eventually abandoned 100 minutes after the incident.
Last night’s match was the latest in a series of violent incidents involving fans in Ligue 1 this season. At least nine matches in the division have been disrupted in 2021-22 to date.
This has provoked comment from the French government.
Speaking to radio station France Info about how matchday jurisdiction is split between the league and local authorities, Maracineanu said: “They have to come to an agreement, this kind of problem is for the league to solve.
“I think that everyone must understand that it is the survival of French football that is at stake.”
She also warned that the repeated incidents would start to harm the finances of the domestic game. Last night’s match was broadcast on Amazon Prime, who bought the rights to some Ligue 1 matches in the summer.
“We cannot allow a broadcaster who has bought the rights to keep the conversation moving for more than an hour like they did last night when we do not know if the match is going to continue. It is a world where millions of euros are at stake.
“We have helped the soccer world during the health crisis to allow the return of fans in the stadiums, we cannot allow things like that to happen.”
