2023-11-23 23:12:51
An Olympique de Marseille supporter was sentenced Thursday to a four-month suspended prison sentence and a stadium ban for throwing a projectile before the ultimately canceled match against Olympique Lyonnais on October 29. This young 22-year-old driver was, however, acquitted for the aggravated violence and damage to one of the ten Lyon supporters’ buses. He was not prosecuted for the stone-throwing of the coach of the Lyon staff and players during which coach Fabio Grosso was seriously injured in the face.
He appeared detained, having been placed in detention on October 31, two days after the events. In the process of being released following this judgment after 24 days of detention, he will not be able to attend any match of his club for three years. The first to be arrested that evening, he admitted having thrown a stone “in a moment of euphoria”. In front of the judges, he explained that he had returned the stone thrown by a Lyon supporter which he said he had landed on the foot.
An explanation contested by the assistant prosecutor, Isabelle Fort: “No, you did not pick up a stone that had been thrown at you, the images are clear, you arrived with it to let off steam and hit the opposing supporters”. She had requested 12 months in prison, including six months suspended, and continued home detention under electronic surveillance.
” Got it “
The defendant, a member of the Marseille Trop Puissant (MTP) supporters club, and attending OM matches since his childhood, was hooded that evening, brandishing his belt in whip mode in his left hand. “He prefers a fight to a match,” said the prosecutor. But for his lawyer, Me Fabrice Giletta, he is on the contrary “a true football fan who cannot be reduced to the deplorable attitude he had that evening”.
Repentant, almost ashamed of having committed “such stupidity”, the supporter said he had learned his lesson. “With the punishment you gave me, these 24 days [en détention], I understood,” assured the young man, describing the prison as “hell, with people fighting in cells.” “You are free but it is up to you to come back here, you know how to go about it,” warned the president of the court, Thierry Bonifay.
Neither the football authorities nor Olympique de Marseille had become civil parties following these incidents, which the prosecutor described as “a disaster, an evening punctuated by numerous distressing events”. Several investigations have been opened by the Marseille prosecutor’s office, one of which concerns the serious injuries suffered by the Lyon coach.
Another concerns the Nazi salutes and monkey gestures made by Lyon supporters in the visitor’s park. This Wednesday evening, the LFP met to rule on this point. She ultimately decided to postpone her decision until December 6, the day the match was rescheduled.
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