French football to witness decisions fighting hooliganism
2 Min Read
French football club Olympique Lyon ban their fans from traveling to attend away matches following acts of hooliganism during the French Cup match versus Paris FC.
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The decisions come days after the French government announced measures to combat hooliganism in football stadia.
Ligue 1 club Lyon have banned its supporters from attending away matches until further notice, following the latest incident involving their fans led to the abandonment of Friday's French Cup match against Paris FC.
In a statement, the club said Saturday that "more than ever we must eradicate hooliganism and ban all those who are enemies, by their acts, of football."
It is the second abandoned match this season involving Lyon fans. Their home league game with Marseille was called off after the latter's captain Dimitri Payet was hit on the head with a plastic bottle.
Lyon vs. Marseille has been suspended after Dimitri Payet was hit by a water bottle thrown from the stands pic.twitter.com/gsyd49FJfP
— B/R Football (@brfootball) November 21, 2021
This week's game saw flares fired off between the two sets of supporters and fighting around the stand containing the Lyon fans leading to people spilling onto the pitch, as the referee called off the match at half-time.
This weekend’s Coupe de France action has begun with Lyon fans attacking Paris FC fans. French football & violence are unfortunately the best of bedfellows this season. pic.twitter.com/lme5o0pINB
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) December 17, 2021
The scenes at Charléty a few minutes ago, as Paris FC-Lyon is yet to resume. pic.twitter.com/d1o7XoJlgD
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) December 17, 2021
"Until further notice and until the light is shone on who the perpetrators are, Lyon have decided to forbid our supporters to travel to away matches," they said in the statement.
Noel Le Graet, president of the French Football Federation (FFF), denounced the incidents as "intolerable" and the hooligans had to be "chased from sporting venues."
"These groups of pseudo supporters, who are at the root of these incidents and the violence, have no business being in a stadium."
The definitive canceling of the matches if a player or official is injured by a projectile thrown from the stands was one of the main cited measures.
Also, decisions on whether or not a game should be canceled due to other reasons -- such as fighting between rival fans -- should be taken within half an hour.
Furthermore, one of the measures centered on banning the sale of plastic bottles in stadia by July 1 at the latest. They were actually not allowed into matches at all.
These decisions come days after the French government announced new measures to combat the rising tide of violence in French football stadia.
