Lyon and Paris FC thrown out of Coupe de France after crowd trouble

Lyon were expelled from the Coupe de France on Monday, paying the price for crowd trouble that caused their last-64 tie at Paris FC to be abandoned.

Paris FC were also banished from the competition and served with a five-game stadium closure, while Lyon’s supporters have been banned from travelling to all domestic away games for the rest of the season.

The December 17 tie between the sides was called off at half-time as fans clashed at the Charlety stadium. Supporters appeared to be fighting in the stands and several flares were thrown before a number of fans made their way onto the pitch.

Lyon declared they would look to identify the individuals responsible and serve them with lifetime stadium bans, and the French Football Federation (FFF) has now handed down severe punishments to both clubs. The winner of the game had been due to play Nice in the next round.

An FFF disciplinary commission met on Monday and decided both teams should be ruled to have lost the match, imposing the stadium ban and a fine of €10,000 on Paris FC.

The FFF stated that Lyon fans would be banned from attending away games until the end of the 2021-22 campaign, in “a sanction that applies to all competitions organised by the FFF and the LFP [Ligue de Football Professionnel] in which the first team is involved”.

Lyon have also received a suspended ban from next year’s Coupe de France, which could be imposed in the event of supporters causing trouble again. On top of that, the Ligue 1 club were fined €52,000 and ordered to meet the costs of repairing seats damaged by their supporters at Charlety.

OL condemns in the strongest terms the violence committed during Paris FC – OL and announces sanctions https://t.co/Q1otJtL7r8

— Olympique Lyonnais  (@OL_English) December 18, 2021

It was the second time a recent game involving Lyon has had to be ended prematurely, with their Ligue 1 encounter at home to Marseille on November 21 also abandoned after a spectator threw a bottle that struck Dimitri Payet inside the opening five minutes. That led to Lyon being docked a point as punishment.

Lyon have been usurped by Paris Saint-Germain as France’s leading team in the past decade. Beginning in 2001-02, Lyon won seven consecutive Ligue 1 titles. They finished fourth last season and sit 13th this term, in a congested mid-table.

Paris FC, a club living in PSG’s shadows, are third in Ligue 2.