Football
PA Sport 7y

Bastia close east stand for redevelopment following Lyon trouble

Bastia have closed one of their stands as a response to the crowd trouble that forced an early end to their Ligue 1 clash with Lyon at the Stade Armand Cesari on Sunday.

Videos online appeared to show the home fans entering the pitch to "attack" visiting players before the game, with further trouble at half-time forcing it to be abandoned at 0-0.

The match had been in doubt following a delayed start of nearly an hour following the earlier confrontation, with Lyon tweeting that "Bastia fans had entered the pitch to attack the Lyon players who were finishing their warmup.''

A statement on Bastia's official website on Tuesday listed a number of measures the Ligue 1 club will put in place to prevent such incidents occurring in future.

It said the East Jojo-Petrignani stand will be closed as a precaution and redeveloped to ensure security at the stadium is maximised.

Bastia also vowed to ban those found to have participated in incidents of violence from the stadium. Bastia filed a lawsuit against the club's supporters, announcing in their statement that all fans that are identified will be banned from attending matches "for the maximum amount of time."

Earlier on Tuesday, Bastia's public prosecutor Nicolas Bessone promised those responsible for the trouble would be held to account.

Bastia club officials have been summoned to a discipline hearing at the Ligue de Football Professionnel on Thursday.

Bottom-placed Bastia, who have struggled the whole season, risk seeing their slim hopes of staying in Ligue 1 hit by heavy sanctions, possibly including a points deduction.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

^ Back to Top ^