Marseille's Ligue 1 match against Nice on Sunday has been abandoned with the visiting club refusing to emerge from the dressing room after Nice fans invaded the pitch to spark a brawl.
The referee blew for the final whistle in the 75th minute with only the Nice players in sight following a brief suspension to proceedings, and according to Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) rules, Marseille have been handed an automatic 3-0 defeat pending further review.
Members of the crowd had pelted Marseille players with objects in the lead-up to the chaotic fight, and fans charged the playing surface when forward Dimitri Payet's responded to them after being struck near the corner flag.
What happened?
Supporters at the Allianz Riviera had been throwing objects at Marseille players throughout the match, and Payet threw a bottle back into the crowd in the 74th minute after being struck as he prepared to take a corner kick.
Soon after, fans invaded the pitch, dropping a billboard to access the field in order to battle with the Marseille players.
A coach embroiled in the chaos appeared to connect on a punch thrown at a supporter.
In the rush, one person appeared to be injured before being evacuated on a stretcher when calm returned.
The incident that caused the suspension of the Nice vs Marseille game. #OM #Ligue1UberEats pic.twitter.com/K1vUwOoCbC
— Matthew Bauer (@mattbauer__5) August 22, 2021
Here's what happened to #Payet .
— Robin Bairner (@RBairner) August 22, 2021
Can understand why the Marseille players are upset... pic.twitter.com/6xz35uOcSN
A fan tries to kick Dimitri Payet after a pitch invasion halted Nice vs Marseille! 😳 pic.twitter.com/J0iOi4JImf
— Goal (@goal) August 22, 2021
Nice led 1-0 at the time of the incident.
Forced finish
“We will not play! We will not play!” said Marseille president Pablo Longoria to officials in the tunnel (via Amazon) when the match was first suspended.
However, LFP officials and Nice tried to proceed anyways.
So Nice v Marseille restarted... only the OM players didn't come out.
— Robin Bairner (@RBairner) August 22, 2021
Nice kicked the ball towards the corner flag and the referee blew for full-time.
LFP now have a major administrative headache to sort.
Echoes of Estonia v Scotland from 1996.
Nice's players line up to defend a corner... against non-existent opposition.
— Robin Bairner (@RBairner) August 22, 2021
The enduring image of a sad derby match. pic.twitter.com/d5BvVqadTT
"We need to set precedents for French football," Longoria said to RMC once the match was abandoned. "The referee was with us, he confirmed that to us, that safety was not assured.
"His decision was to abandon the match, but the LFP decided to restart the match. It is not acceptable for us."
Marseille targetted again
Two weeks ago Marseille's match against Montpellier was briefly halted because of the crowd throwing objects at visiting players.
Marseille midfielder Valentin Rongier came away with a busted lip from that match.