The return of Lyon midfielder Mathieu Valbuena to Marseille for the first time since leaving Olympique Marseille in ’14 sparked crowd disturbances resulting in the match being stopped for more than 20 minutes, according to LE PARISIEN. The crowd threw beer bottles on the pitch and hung dolls with Valbuena’s face from nooses. The incident has drawn reactions from club presidents, French politicians and French Football League (LFP) President Frédéric Thiriez. Thiriez called an “emergency meeting of the LFP" and spoke of a “sad weekend for football.” Thiriez: “The league should help the club (Marseille) with the public authorities, to regain control of its public and notably its fans.” He added, “The league has no decision power, but it can promote a dialogue with the public authorities” (LE PARISIEN, 9/21). The AFP's Antoine Huot de Saint-Albin reported French Secretary of State for Sport Thierry Braillard wants better security inside French stadiums in reaction to the game. Braillard said, “It is unacceptable and I think we need to stand more firm on the security checks. There are security conditions that need to be respected, you cannot have glass bottles in the stands” (AFP, 9/21). THE LOCAL reported Braillard told French radio RTL, “We are after all months from a tremendous event which is the organization of the European football championship and I really call for everyone to assess what happened” (THE LOCAL, 9/21).
CLUB PRESIDENTS BUTT HEADS: LEPROGRES.FR reported OL President Jean-Michel Aulas called OM club president Vincent Labrune “a fool” following the match Sunday. Aulas accused Labrune of “irresponsible remarks” after Labrune blamed the crowd’s misconduct on “certain facts of the game,” alluding to referees giving Lyon favorable calls (LE PROGRES, 9/21).
