Ligue 1 referee Jérôme Brissard called off Saturday’s match between Nice and Lyon in the 87th minute after hearing what appeared to be offensive chants from the crowd. The match eventually continued and Nice took all three points after winning 3-2.
Lyon had made a strong start to the season, winning five of their seven games before their trip to the Allianz Riviera. On the other hand, Nice had only won two of their seven league games before the tournament. However, the home side gave the visitors too much power as Melvin Bird, Sofian Diop and Hisham Boudaoui scored goals, while Lyon’s Pavel Suruk’s goal was wasted.
During Bastille Day in July 2016, a man drove a truck into a crowd in Nice, killing 86 people.
The attacker, Mohamed Lahoaie Bouhlel, was shot dead by police, and three people later convicted of terrorist links were jailed. The other five were found guilty of supplying weapons and jailed.
During the match at the Allianz Riviera, many Nice fans began to sing “Daesh, Daesh, I’m going to fuck you”. And they’re wearing T-shirts that say “F*** ISIS.”
And on Saturday, the Daily Mail reported that Brissard misinterpreted anti-terrorist chants as homophobic abuse.
Nice president Fabrice Boquet was furious at the decision. After the match, he said, “This is a lack of respect for the victims of July 14th, their families, and the entire city of Nice. Not just OGC Nice.”
“This suspension of the match was like an ultimatum to the announcer to get on the microphone and stop the demonstration or the match would not resume, which should never have happened.”
He added: “This was a lack of preparation and care and should never have happened, and representatives agreed with that.
“The referee has apologized. We will take the necessary steps this week together with FFF, Philippe Diallo (FFF president) and Anthony Gauthier (FFF head of refereeing) to ensure this never happens again.”
However, referee Gauthier later explained why Brissard made the decision to stop the match: “I talked to Jerome a little bit after the game, and I could clearly hear the words ‘son of a bitch,’ but I couldn’t make out the first word, the word Daesh.”
“If he had been aware of the situation, he would not have stopped the match in exceptional circumstances.”
Gauthier added: “When you’re focused on the game, it’s not easy to see and hear what’s going on in the stands.
“The referees have received clear instructions from federation president Philippe Diallo: If there are homophobic, racist or discriminatory chants, the match must be stopped. This is zero tolerance.”
