Picture Credit: Twitter
On Sunday, October 29, Lyon’s team bus was attacked by fans throwing projectiles on their way to the Stade Velodrome, which led to their scheduled Ligue 1 match against Marseille being called off. The attack had Lyon manager Fabio Grosso, and his assistant Raffaele Longo getting directly hit, which was the reason for them suffering serious injuries in the face.
After the attack happened, Fabio Grosso was brought to the stadium by two assistants, while he was covering his face with his hands stained in blood. The 45-year-old required 12 stitches as part of the medical treatment, after falling shards of glass caused heavy bleeding on his face.
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The President of Lyon, John Textor talked to Prime Video about the attack and said, “He (Fabio Grosso) can’t hold a conversation, he had shards of glass in his face. I’m very angry – our players, our coach, prepared for tonight and the fans wanted to see the game played.”
Lyon released a statement about the attack on their team bus, which read, “On Sunday evening, at the entrance to the Vélodrome stadium, several individuals violently attacked the bus of Olympique Lyonnais, as well as its staff and players. Six buses carrying Olympique Lyonnais supporters were also targeted.”
“Indeed, several reinforced windows were shattered by heavy projectiles of unknown origin. These same projectiles penetrated the interior of the bus. Coach Fabio Grosso and his assistant Raffaele Longo were directly hit and seriously injured in the face during this attack. The players and staff who were in the bus with them were also deeply affected by the violence of this attack, which Olympique Lyonnais strongly condemns,” it further added.
Marseille issued a statement to condemn the unfortunate turn of events outside the Stade Velodrome, which read, “The club wishes a speedy recovery to Lyon coach Fabio Grosso and strongly condemns this violent behaviour which has no place in the world of football and in society. Due to a handful of mindless people, the game planned for this evening was spoiled and deprived 65,000 supporters of attending a football match.”
