The French Football Federation (FFF) has expelled Paris FC and Olympique Lyonnais from this year’s Coupe de France after fan trouble led to the abandonment of the match between the two teams last month.
The game, which took place at Paris FC’s Stade Charlety, was poised at 1-1 after the first 45 minutes, but supporters began throwing flares onto the pitch shortly after the players went down the tunnel at half-time.
Some supporters made their way onto the pitch, while fans from both teams began fighting with each other in the stands. After a delay of 50 minutes, officials decided to abandon the game.
Rather than replay the match, the FFF has opted to throw both Paris FC and Lyon out of the cup. Ligue 2 side Paris FC has also been forced to play five matches behind closed doors and received a €10,000 (£8,400/$11,300) fine.
Lyon has been fined €100,000 and will not be permitted to send any away fans to matches for the remainder of the season. The club has also been handed a suspended ban from next season’s Coupe de France under the condition that no further acts of violence are committed by its fans.
Lyon has also been ordered to reimburse Paris FC for the costs linked to the repair of damaged seats during last month’s match.
With both clubs eliminated from this season’s Coupe de France, OGC Nice, which had been drawn to face the winner, will progress to the next round.
The unrest at last month’s match came after France’s Sports, Interior and Justice ministries approved new measures that would result in matches interrupted by crowd trouble being suspended immediately.
It was the second Lyon game in the 2021-22 season to be abandoned after the match against Olympique de Marseille in November was halted when a home fan threw a bottle at opposition player Dimitri Payet.
Nice and AS Saint-Etienne have also been punished this season following crowd trouble at their respective stadiums. Nice was hit with a partial stadium closure following unrest at the Allianz Riviera, while Saint-Etienne played a match without fans after supporters let off smoke bombs and ran onto the pitch during a game against Angers.
Image: Zakarie Faibis/CC BY-SA 4.0/Edited for size
