Lyon game postponed after team bus hit by rocks

The Lyon team bus was pelted with stones before Sunday's match against Marseille as the side made their way to the Stade Velodrome, with the game between the two Ligue 1 rivals later being postponed.

Footage showed damage to the bus windows and coach Fabio Grosso being led into the stadium by two assistants. He was covering his face with his hands, which were stained with blood.

Grosso was injured by falling shards of glass and needed medical treatment because his face was bleeding heavily.

"He can't hold a conversation, he had shards of glass in his face," said Lyon's American owner John Textor. "I am very angry. Our players, our coach prepared themselves for tonight and our fans wanted to see the game be played."

It wasn't clear less than an hour before kickoff whether French league officials would let the game be played in such circumstances, but after a meeting between players and coaches, officials decided not to play the match.

There was some debate over who wanted the game to be postponed, with Textor saying his side was ready to play and that the referees and league decided to call it off. However, referee François Letexier disputed that, telling French TV: "Lyon took the decision not to take part in the game. The players were in shock. Lyon didn't want to play."

Fans were asked to leave the stadium calmly, while no immediate official announcement regarding plans for the game was made.

"The images of the OL bus attacked with stones and its supporters, and of Fabio Grosso's blooded face, are appalling," French sports minister Amelie Oudea Castera said on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. "These unacceptable acts deny the very values of soccer and sport, and the perpetrators must all be found and severely punished."

Seven suspects had been arrested on Sunday night, the minister added.

Marseille said they accepted the decision taken to call off the game, pledging to make sure it could "take place at the Stade Velodrome as soon as possible and under the best possible conditions."

Later on Sunday, Lyon said Grosso and his assistant, Raffaele Longo, were hit by projectiles, resulting in serious injuries to their faces, adding that six buses carrying supporters were also targeted.

"Olympique Lyonnais regrets that this type of situation occurs every year in Marseille and calls on the authorities to take the seriousness and the repetition of such incidents into account before an even more serious tragedy occurs," read a statement from the club.

Both traditional Ligue 1 powers have struggled so far this season.

Despite replacing Marcelino with Gennaro Gattuso as coach in September, Marseille are still showing poor form with one win and three losses in their past four league games.

Lyon are the only team still winless in the league. Replacing Laurent Blanc with Grosso as coach in September hasn't paid off for Lyon, who sit in last place.

Information from Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this report.