OL-OM: Minister Roxana Maracineanu challenges football authorities

Marseille midfielder Dimitri Payet was hit in the head by a full bottle of water thrown from the North corner of Groupama Stadium in Lyon on Sunday, in the first minutes of the clash between OL and OM counting for the 14th day of Ligue 1. The match was interrupted by referee Ruddy Buquet and the two teams returned to the locker room, while Payet was being treated on the ground. An imbroglio ensued between the leaders of the two clubs, the referee, the Professional Football League (LFP) and the prefecture of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

“Give free rein to referees”

Invited to Europe Midi on Monday, Roxana Maracineanu, Minister Delegate for Sports, felt that decisions must be made. “My thoughts are with Dimitri Payet. I had the opportunity to meet him after his first attack and I think that between what happened on Sunday evening and the insults against him, enough is enough. “, she judged. “Now it is necessary that the authorities sit around the table to facilitate the decisions of the referee. The decision lasted 1h30 so it is necessary to give free rein to the referees so that they can decide, according to a black written text on white,” she continued.

Roxana Maracineanu assured that she had always been in favor of “individual sanctions”. “I mobilized the clubs so that all the control gear in the stadiums can be used and that the police forces who are present can challenge the troublemakers. We are going to mobilize all the justice system so that they act in a way much stronger with individuals and to go further in sanctions”, continued the minister.

Presidents “must speak with one voice”

The alleged perpetrator of the bottle-throwing midfielder, 32, was still in police custody on Monday morning for “violence with a weapon by destination in a sports arena”, as well as a 17-year-old young man for use of smoke. Roxana Maracineanu also explained that she had proposed to the League to set up supporter referents in the prefectures to support the clubs.

“I am completely in support of the sports authorities but I believe that today it is up to them to organize themselves. The League must receive all the presidents of clubs and tell them to speak only of one and same voice in the face of these actions and that we do not hear a president say that it is not serious”, she dropped, for the benefit of Jean-Michel Aulas in particular.

Tuesday the Minister of the Interior will receive place Beauvau his colleagues Jean-Michel Blanquer (Education and Sports) and Roxana Maracineanu (Minister Delegate for Sports), as well as representatives of the Professional Football League (LFP) and the French Football Federation (FFF).

According to information obtained by Europe 1, the Disciplinary Committee will meet around 1 p.m. Monday. According to one of its members, “you have to hit hard”. The OL team risks losing the match and deducting points.