Marseille to play home matches behind closed doors

Ligue 1 side Marseille will play home matches behind closed doors following events on Friday night.

The French side are under investigation as to why firecrackers were thrown on the pitch at the Stade Velodrome.

The French football governing body Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) have ordered the south French side to play behind closed doors as they investigate the problems that occurred in their league loss to Lille.

Firecrackers were thrown onto the pitch in the 79th minute with Lille beating the hosts 1-0 following a Nicolas Pépé penalty. The objects that were thrown exploded close to Marseille players Jordan Amavi and Kevin Strootman.

The incident can be seen here:

This held the game up for 38 minutes on Friday night. The incident forced referee Amaury Delerue to take both players off the field fearing for their safety.

A statement from the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) said:

“Because of the nature and gravity of the facts, the committee has decided to investigate the case and during this process, as a safety measure, to play all games at the Orange Velodrome behind closed doors.”

Trouble had occurred in the club’s last home match after the home side were forced to close the north corner of the Orange Velodrome for the “use of pyrotechnic devices and the use of a laser”. The rule was again forced by LFP and was set to last against Bordeaux in their next home game.

The match started with drama as the game had a 10-minute strike from home supporters in protest at the sides American owner Frank McCourt and coach Rudi Garcia.

With fans of Marseille calling for Garcia to be sacked, the match wasn’t helped by the use of VAR that ruled two decisions against the hosts. The first was in the third minute, as the midfielder was denied his first goal for the club as a review found the player in an offside position in the build-up.

The second decision was the penalty that Pépé scored initially this was given as a corner after the host’s captain Luiz Gustavo dived in on Mehmet Zeki Celik. Again after in the intervention of VAR the official pointed to the spot with keeper Steve Mandanda being beaten.

The Ligue 1 clash was a vicious affair with nine yellow cards between the two sides. Winger Florian Thauvin was sent off for two bookable offences in the 67th minute which added to the home side’s fans’ anger.

Lille won 2-1 with Pépé getting a second while Mario Balotelli who had just joined the club got a consolation for Marseille on his debut.

The result leaves Marseille seventh in the league, with one win since late November. That’s seen them be knocked out of three cup competitions including finishing bottom of their Europa League group with only one point.