French League to meet after Lens v Lille crowd trouble

Paris - 'The LFP strongly condemns the outbursts, the invasion of the pitch and the violence'

The disciplinary committee of the French League (LFP) will meet on Monday to discuss the crowd trouble that marred Saturday’s RC Lens v Lille derby, the LFP said on Sunday.

“The LFP strongly condemns the outbursts, the invasion of the pitch and the violence that occurred during the match between RC Lens and LOSC Lille,” the governing body said in a statement.

“In view of the seriousness of the events, the Disciplinary Committee will meet on Monday 20 September.”

The kickoff to the second half of the Ligue 1 game, which Lens won 1-0 to move up to provisional second in the standings, was delayed by about half an hour after crowd trouble erupted at halftime.

The incidents started when Lens fans in the Tranin stand and Lille supporters began throwing objects at each other before people from the Marek stand ran on to the pitch, prompting riot police and stewards to intervene.

When the game resumed, about 50 police officers were posted in front of the Marek tribune.

Nice were this month docked two points, one of them suspended, after serious crowd trouble during their game against Olympique Marseille whose players clashed with home fans who pelted them with missiles and stormed onto the pitch.