Lyon football director Vincent Ponsot confirmed to the press on Friday the Rhone club’s intention to appeal the LFP’s decision to play the OM-OL match on December 6 at the Vélodrome with the public and again asks for play on neutral ground.
“We want to be able to play football without being afraid or risking anything. We don’t want a sporting sanction because the Marseille players have nothing to do with it. We want to play on neutral ground,” insisted Mr. Ponsot. “We’re not going to stop there. We owe it to the players and the management.”
OL, which is awaiting the outcome of the appeals, regrets “a political decision” by the disciplinary committee. It declared itself incompetent because the incidents took place outside the stadium. “We cannot understand, we have a coach who almost lost an eye,” reacted Vincent Ponsot, who called on the commission to “mark the occasion” in the face of this attack on a coach, unprecedented in France.
“The old article 129 of the general regulations indicates that all clubs are responsible for the behavior of their supporters,” recalled Ponsot, specifying that this article “did not speak of territoriality”. Referring to an “ambush”, he recalls that the two men brought into immediate appearance are OM supporters, “two Fanatics”.
According to him, the “Support for the Arrested” banner, deployed during the OM match against Lille, “clearly demonstrates the link between the supporters and the perpetrators of violence. Likewise, the League generally suggests putting a delegate on the bus. It’s good that she feels concerned by the journey to the stadium,” explained Vincent Ponsot. He also deplores the position of the prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône “who demands a ban on OL supporters, a more secure bus”. “So it’s our fault,” the Lyon leader was surprised.
“Who tells us this won’t happen again?” worried midfielder Corentin Tolisso, stunned by the lack of sanction. “Are we going to go back there like nothing happened? I was really scared.” For his part, coach Fabio Grosso declared “to be almost sure that we would not go back there”.
Disagreeing with the decision taken by the LFP, could Olympique Lyonnais decide not to travel to Marseille on the day of the match, i.e. December 6, if nothing changes by then? “We are not at that stage. We are going to make our appeals because we believe we are within our rights. We hope to get something different. If this is not the case, we will need an exchange with our players and coaches who were on the bus,” replied Vincent Ponsot.
For his part, Fabio Grosso indicated that he “had not thought” about the boycott while Corentin Tolisso kicked in: “We didn’t have time to talk about it, but we will perhaps talk about it during the truce. » If OL decided to mark the occasion by refusing to return to the Vélodrome stadium, they would be exposed to a 3-0 defeat confirmed by forfeit. An unlikely scenario but not ruled out by the club, one month before the date set to replay this Olympico against OM.