It's always been bad. In my misspent youth I planned a holiday trip to Holland around seeing Earnie Stewart play at NAC Breda. I had to write a letter to get a security waiver just to get a ticket and travelled by inter city train to the match. Match was cancelled after 10 minutes due to crowd trouble. I had booked a derby match with Willem II. Ooops. Lesson learned. Breda was a nice little town to visit, anyway.
So you can just win a game by having your fans attack and intimidate the other team? That’s a great new tactic!
This could be interesting; a forfeit by either Nice or Marseille depending on how Ligue 1 wants to handle this.
I tried to watch Konrad's reaction in the clips - seems he stayed out of the fray for the most part? Anyone see him specifically do anything out of line? Payet was justifiably pissed, but throwing stuff at the crowd didn't cool things down.
That was truly insane but not entirely unexpected. After so long without, fans are anxious to feel something and it only takes one moment for chaos to spill over. Ref didn't do a good job of getting on top of the game and if anything, the fans capitalized, though get 5000 drunk rowdy men of a single mind and voice and there's little you can do. Really interesting watching the coach, president, and Dante all plead with the ultras and their leaders. One of the them walked the entire sideline with the Nice president holding a cigarette in his hand. Another vaped in officials' faces. Players and fans alike are lucky there was only one injury to a fan (with their lifestyles, could've very easily been a heart attack). And Sampaoli is probably the least calm, last person you'd want to lead in that situation but credit to them for refusing to come back out. No team nor player should have to face such abuse and hopefully Ligue 1 comes down on Nice.
Insane shit. I will give the Nice players credit- they (basically) interposed themselves between the fans and OM at first when it was just throwing shit on the field. That’s classy. Mexico could take lessons there.
💥 THIS IS MADNESS! 🤯 THE FANS INVADED THE PITCH! 😰Nice fans ran on to the pitch during the OGC Nice-Marseille match.#OGCNOM pic.twitter.com/BKGxprGN53— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) August 22, 2021 If those are the nice fans, I don't want to see the mean ones!
What’s crazy is the Nice president actually blamed the scene on the reaction of the Marseille players for throwing bottles back, and he was surprised they didn’t return and finish the game. On another note, how great is it that Konrad is being coached by Sampaoli? One of my dream hires for the USMNT.
Now that I've seen what happened I pass no judgement whatsoever on Payet for his reaction or the actions of any OM players. 1. Payet was struck in the back by a semi-full glass bottle 2. Another angle from the crowd makes clear that *while on the ground after being hit* someone tossed (what appears to be a plastic water bottle) between his legs! He was almost hit a second time and the Ultras felt no sympathy or restraint when attacking Payet while he was down...THAT is was really set him off and should clear him of wrongdoing upon proper analysis and review by league officials. Who knows how they will handle it though...
By the end of it all the Marseilles manager was about as upset as I've seen a manager in a long time. I couldn't tell if he was po'd at the referee or Nice players.
For the record, the announcer during the game said they only sold plastic bottles and it seemed like only water, no beer or booze. I'd have to look again, but the one that hit Payet looked like a plastic bottle to me. But good lord, if those guys were all still boozing throughout I think that would've been even worse.
Either way, doesn't feel good. I've been hit in the head by a half-full plastic water bottle and had to go to the emergency room to get stitches. Pretty awful.
I'll have to reason this out ala Vizzini: The league cannot reward a team that refuses to play. Otherwise, teams would be encouraged to walk off every time they felt aggrieved, especially when behind. So Marseille cannot be awarded a victory. But the league cannot reward a team whose fans invade the pitch. Otherwise, fans would continually invade the pitch, without severe consequences. So Nice cannot be awarded a victory, either. Nice fans are French, so allowances for bad behavior must be made. Therefore victory cannot be awarded to Marseille. But Payet is himself French, so his intemperance should not be used against him. Victory cannot be awarded to Nice. The Marseille players could have been less confrontational, and they were actually losing the match, with little time remaining. So Marseille cannot be awarded a victory. The Nice players tried their best to prevent murder and mayhem, but they were unsuccessful, so they cannot receive full credit. Victory cannot be awarded to Nice. Replay without fans present, anyone?
I don't see how this can be anything but a forfeit by Nice or a replay. I agree that every time a team walks off they are running a risk of taking a forfeit, they have to be or else it encourages abuse, but the video of this shows that they should win their bet: they should not have to take the field in that situation. I think FIFA has long held that teams are accountable for the actions of their fans, and those actions were way over the line. The OM players could legitimately say "you're asking us to stand and play with our backs to the stands and concentrate on a game knowing that objects that can cause serious injury might fly in?"