Lyon weigh up appeal over points deduction following Marseille match

Olympique Lyonanis supremos were on Thursday considering an appeal against a points deduction following fan violence which stopped the Ligue 1 match against Marseille on 21 November.

Marseille's Dimitri Payet was struck on the head by a bottle of water thrown from the crowd as he went to take a corner in the Ligue 1 game against Lyon in November. PHILIPPE DESMAZES AFP

Marseille skipper Dimitri Payet was hit on the side of his head by a full bottle of water thrown from the Virage Nord of the Groupama Stadium as he prepared to take a corner in the fourth minute of the Ligue 1 fixture.

Both teams returned to their changing rooms as the 34-year-old received treatment. Referee Rudi Buquet eventually called off the match after talks with officials and players from both clubs.

On Wednesday night, a disciplinary committee at the Ligue de Football Professionnel – which organises the top two divisions in France – imposed a one-point penalty on Lyon and said the game should be replayed behind closed doors at the Groupama Stadium.

Attack

Lyon said it might appeal against the sanction as club bosses hit out at the Marseille communications chiefs Jacques Cardoze for stoking the controversy.

Cardoze claimed Marseille should have been awarded all three points following the incident. 

A statement from Lyon branded his comments as a nauseating speech with populist overtones. It added: “It shows a total lack of knowledge of the procedures since the disciplinary committee is in essence disciplinary and not criminal.”

Matches between Lyon and Marseille are among the most prestigious fixtures of the French football calendar.

However, since Paris Saint-Germain’s effective annexation of the Ligue 1 crown over the past decade, the games between the two clubs have latterly served to decide provincial bragging rights and the scrap for a place in the Champions or Europa Leagues.

Marseille, after 16 games of the 2021/22 campaign, lie third in Ligue 1 on 29 points. Lyon are 12th with 23 points. PSG set the pace with 42 points from 17 matches.

Behaviour

With PSG and its galaxy of stars such as Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Neymar and Angel Di Maria threatening to dominate the surge for silverware, the narrative of French football has turned towards the levels of violence in stadiums since the return of fans following limits on crowd numbers due to coronavirus pandemic restrictions.

In September, Nice were docked two points with one suspended and ordered to play three games behind closed doors after crowd trouble during the game with Marseille.

Lens and Saint-Etienne have also been sanctioned following disturbances.

“The LFP’s disciplinary committee has chosen to give in to emotion and to pressure from all sides,” Lyon’s statement said.

“With this unprecedented decision, the disciplinary committee has created an inequality of treatment over the same season between clubs, where much more serious acts have resulted in much lighter sanctions than those decreed against Olympique Lyonnais.

“The lack of a set scale of sanctions now poses a significant risk to the sporting and financial equity of French clubs.

"It is incomprehensible today to see an escalation in sanctions where each new club that is summoned ends up with the 'disciplinary record' of those that preceded it.”