Bastia- Lyon abandoned amid trouble

A match between French Ligue 1 sides Bastia and Lyon was abandoned after home fans invaded the pitch in Corsica.

Kick-off was delayed by 55 minutes, as Bastia fans tried to attack visiting Lyon players during their warm-up.

Stewards held off fans while players were rushed down the tunnel and a gate closed behind them.

Lyon were then persuaded to start the match – having initially refused – before further incident caused the abandonment at half-time.

The Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP), which governs France’s professional leagues, will meet on Thursday to decide what action to take.

It called on Bastia to issue stadium bans to the fans responsible, adding: “The LFP condemns with the greatest firmness the incidents which took place before the game and at half-time of the Bastia-Lyon game.”

Trouble began before the match as Lyon’s players, including former Manchester United forward Memphis Depay, came out on the pitch to warm up.

Their goalkeeper Mathieu Gorgelin found himself caught in the middle of a group of pitch invaders before the players were directed back to the dressing room.

Lyon defender Jeremy Berthod said: “Bastia fans kicked balls into Gorgelin’s goal. He and Memphis tried to move them out of the way before being attacked by many SC Bastia fans.

“The players then huddled together. They and the staff are very shocked. The moment it happened, none of them wanted to come out of the dressing room and play this match.”

It has been a difficult week for Lyon, with crowd trouble before their Europa League game with Besiktas on Thursday.

Fans clashed before their quarter-final first leg in France, with kick-off delayed by 45 minutes as a result. Lyon went on to win 2-1.

Lyon face four Uefa charges from that game, for the setting-off of fireworks, blocking stairways, insufficient organisation and a pitch invasion after a late winning goal.

Bastia were made to close part of their stadium for three matches after a group of supporters shouted racist insults at Nice striker Mario Balotelli during a 1-1 draw in January.