A thick layer of smoke fell a few moments following the start of the match on the lawn and a projectile seemed to interfere with Cédric Mensah, the goalkeeper of Jura Sud, forcing the match referee, Bastien Dechepy, to ask the players to return to the locker room. .
We had been playing for a handful of seconds when the Saint-Etienne park used firecrackers and even fireworks. The match finally resumed following regarding twenty minutes of interruption with the threat of stopping everything definitively in the event of a new incident.
A rating of 5,550 supporters had been planned for this match, and 500 Saint-Etienne supporters arrived at the stadium, but some were late.
This is the second incident in the Coupe de France following the final interruption of the 32nd final between Paris FC and Lyon following the throwing of smoke and fights in the stands. Both teams have since been excluded from the competition.
In December, the government took action following a series of stadium incidents: a match will be permanently interrupted if a player or the referee is assaulted and plastic bottles have been banned. In addition, Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 clubs must all have “anti-projection safety devices”, from the 2022-2023 season, which can be positioned for certain matches on the recommendation of the prefects.
Saint-Etienne is currently last in Ligue 1 and is struggling to maintain itself this season, while the club has been in the process of giving up since April 2021.
