Fabio Grosso assumed the managerial role at Lyon just a month ago. Just over a month into his tenure, and he has encountered a substantial setback that could have far-reaching implications for his future with the club. Football, arguably the most popular sport in the world, shares a commonality with all others– its fans are its lifeblood. Their passion for the game is strong, which is why they’re always treated like a huge part of the game.
Tragically, football fans can sometimes show toxic behaviors. This unfortunate reality was seen when a contingent of fans launched an attack on the buses transporting Olympique Lyon’s players and staff to a match yesterday. This distressing incident resulted in severe injuries to Fabio Grosso, Lyon’s manager, with his face bearing the mark of the assault.
Fabio Grosso was attacked with stones
Fabio Grosso must have been running through his tactics for the team in the bus yesterday when “unknown projectiles”, later revealed to be stones, hit him in the face, leaving him bloodied and heavily injured. The unfortunate incident left many people bewildered by anyone’s intentions to hurt a man so severely, regardless of the kind of results he was producing on the pitch.
According to footage by Sky Italia, Grosso had to be led into the stadium by two assistants with a bloodied face, which he was trying to cover with his hands. A picture of the Lyon manager was later posted, showing the severity of the injury he sustained in the attack.
“He can’t hold a conversation; he had shards of glass in his face,” John Textor, Olympique Lyon’s president, revealed. “I’m very angry; our players, our coach, prepared for tonight, and the fans wanted to see the game played,” the president added.
Shortly after the incident, Lyon quickly released an official statement. “Six buses of Olympique Lyonnais supporters were also targeted. If in the past, attacks of this type had already taken place, which Olympique Lyonnais has always regretted, this Sunday, October 29, a new step towards the worst was taken,” the statement read.
“In fact, several secure windows were broken by heavy projectiles of unknown nature. 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.
Present with them on the bus, the players and staff were also deeply affected by the violence of this attack, which Olympique Lyonnais strongly condemns.
For context, Fabio Grosso scored the winning penalty for Italy in the heated World Cup final match against France in 2006, which saw France’s Zinedine Zidane’s infamous headbutt Fabio Cannavaro in the chest.
This will be considered bad PR for France, the country that is set to host the 2024 Olympics in Paris, with Kylian Mbappe in line to feature for his country despite EURO obligations.
Marseille and OL game postponed
In the aftermath of the attacks on Lyon’s team bus, the Ligue 1 match between Marseille and Olympique Lyonnais was inevitably postponed. “During the crisis unit meeting following the incidents that occurred outside the Stade Velodrome on the route of its bus, Olympique Lyonnais made known its opposition to taking part in the match given the circumstances,” French Football’s governing body said in a statement.
“In consultation with Olympique de Marseille and the public authorities, the OM-OL match will, therefore, not be played this evening at 8:45 p.m. It will now be up to the Competitions Commission to decide on the fate of this match by application of Article 544 of the competition regulations,” the statement read.
Lyon, who lost Bradley Barcola to PSG in a €45 million deal, remain winless in Ligue 1 this season, with three draws and six losses in nine games, leaving them languishing at the bottom of the table.
Will Fabio Grosso continue with his job at Lyon?
