French league sets date for Marseille-Lyon game, postponed after bus attack

The Ligue 1 match between Marseille and Lyon, cancelled after the visiting team’s bus was attacked, has been rescheduled for December 6 at a venue to be decided, the French League (LFP) announced on Thursday.

Lyon coach Fabio Grosso suffered cuts to his face when the bus was pelted with stones near Marseille’s Stade Velodrome on Sunday.

Grosso’s face was left bloodied and his assistant Raffaele Longo was also injured after the incidents which led to the game being called off.

The LFP said Wednesday, December 6 was “the first available date” for the two teams. 

It said it would “determine the venue for this match at a later date, pending further information from the public authorities enabling it to be held under optimum safety and security conditions for all its players and the public,” the LFP said in a statement. 

Lyon’s directors on Tuesday called for punishments and said that they wanted to play the match at a neutral venue because “the safety conditions for playing in Marseille have not been met”. 

Grosso required 12 stitches to the wounds on his face. 

The Marseille public prosecutor has opened three investigations. 

The first two concern the stoning of the bus and a similar incident involving a Lyon supporters’ bus. The third concerns the behaviour of some of the Lyon supporters inside the Velodrome, who made Nazi salutes and shouted monkey cries at the Marseille crowd. 

The LFP Disciplinary Committee has opened an investigation into the “behaviour of Lyon supporters in the visitors’ area” and will issue its decision on November 22.