The discord between supporters of Ligue 2 clubs – the second division of French football –, its broadcaster beIN Sports and the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) took on a new dimension on Saturday, August 24. As Lorient hosted Grenoble at the Stade du Moustoir for the second day of the championship, the referee was forced to send all the players back to the locker room and interrupt the match after 26 minutes of play, when the score was 0-0.
The cause: incidents in the stands, including the throwing of projectiles onto the pitch. However, any rivalry between the two clubs has nothing to do with these events. The football fans in question are actually angry with the full broadcaster of Ligue 2 for the 2024-2025 season, beIN Sports, for scheduling the majority of matches for the – at least – first five days of the championship on Friday evenings. A decision supported by the LFP. After a twenty-minute break and discussions between the captains of the two teams and the supporters, the match between Lorient and Grenoble finally resumed.
A few hours before kick-off, the animosity of the supporters resulted in the damage to equipment belonging to the channel. “When the production teams arrived for the Lorient – Grenoble match, it appears that dozens of Grenoble supporters poured paint on the production van, where employees were located, and ransacked the equipment of an accompanying van after breaking into it.”an internal source at beIN Sports explained to Agence France-Presse.
A meeting to come
Because of this damage, the broadcast was postponed until 2:20 p.m., while the match was due to start at 3 p.m. The journalists then criticized the ” “deplorable actions” occurred earlier in the day, before focusing on the match. In a statement, the LFP also “strongly condemned the malicious acts”.
The day before, the channel had tried to calm the anger of the supporters and to explain its choice of programming in a letter addressed to the National Association of Supporters (ANS). Our recent programming decisions have been made taking into account many dynamics and decisions beyond our control – and in a very delicate general context for French football.”argued Florent Houzot, the director of programs and the antenna of beIN Sports France, while saying he was ready to meet the ANS.
On Saturday, the League recalled in its press release that this meeting between the LFP, beIN Sports and the ANS would take place the following week. It had been announced on Wednesday on X by the Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra.