Ligue 1: Lille and Marseille away fans banned from travelling in 2021

Paris: The French league has banned fans from Lille and Marseille from travelling to away games for the rest of the year following violence in recent games. The LFP’s disciplinary committee issued its verdicts at midnight on Wednesday, giving each club a suspended deduction of one point. Lens were also given a suspended one-point deduction and ordered to play two home games without fans. Angers had one section of their stadium closed for two games. Both clubs had already served those punishments, but Angers were also ordered to pay a fine of 20,000 euros ($23,000). Last month, about 50 Marseille supporters ran onto the field and clashed with Angers counterparts  in their tribune at the final whistle. Just days earlier, fans ripped up seats and threw them at each other at half-time during the Lens-Lille northern derby. The match was interrupted for 30 minutes but continued. In August, there was serious disorder at the Nice-Marseille game, which was suspended and will be replayed on 27 October. The problematic issue of fan disorder in France again resurfaced last Thursday, when the Europa League game between Marseille and Galatasaray was interrupted for about 10 minutes after rival fans threw flares and firecrackers at each other at Stade Velodrome.