In a video broadcast on the site of the Olympique de Marseille, Steve Mandanda returned to the incidents that marked the end of the match on Sunday evening on the lawn of the Riviera Arena.
French football is in shock. The serious incidents that punctuated the end of the match between the OGC Nice and theOlympic Marseille, with the culmination of the invasion of the lawn of the Riviera Arena and the refusal of the Marseille camp to resume the meeting, do not cease to react. Especially within the political world. Roxana Maracineanu, the Minister for Sports, did not hesitate to defend the Olympians players. “Still happy that they defended themselves. In a match where we attack players and referees, it is normal that we react. Are we going to let the players be insulted, be thrown full of water bottles? No, that’s not possible “, she said, considering that these incidents were “An insult to football”.
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Words that will undoubtedly warm the heart of Steve Mandanda, the Olympian captain, who shared, in a video broadcast on the club’s website, his deep emotion after the eventful end of the match experienced on the Côte d’Azur. “We are very clearly shocked by what happened. It is for us something unacceptable that the supporters can return to the field like that, thus confided the Olympian captain. There had already been quite a bit at the start with a lot of bottle throwing. Then we met, already in Montpellier with Val (Rongier) who was seriously affected, today I have been often targeted since the start of the match. Then it happened on Dim (Payet). ”
And the tricolor world champion to continue on the subject of the invasion of the field. “After the supports who come in, it is completely unacceptable, he assailed. That’s what I told the delegate. Quite simply, for us players, our safety was no longer guaranteed. We found ourselves in danger. A lot of our players have been targeted or affected. When we see that there are between 500 and 1,000 supporters who allow themselves to enter the field in order to attack us, it is something that we cannot tolerate. For all these reasons, we cannot return to the field because we do not feel safe. ”
Like its president, Pablo Longoria, Steve Mandanda took care to clarify that Benoît Bastien, the referee of the match, seemed to share the opinion of the Phocian camp considering that a non-resumption of the match was the best solution. But that was without counting on the opinion of the League and the authorities. “The referees agreed with us to be able to simply interrupt the match. They felt that the security was not there. The delegate replied that in relation to the discussion with the prefect and the police service they felt that it was possible, he explained. But as I told them, they did not experience what we experienced on the ground. The prefect was not there to see what was going on either. For us, our safety was the most important. On that aspect, we didn’t feel safe. ”
