Europe » Rest Of Europe » France

French Revelations: Marseille v Paris Saint-Germain – One Flu Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

Goal.com's Robin Bairner examines the unusual postponement of last Sunday's Clasico...

Oct 29, 2009 9:12:23 AM

Photo Gallery

Zoom

Ligue 1 : Mamadou Niang (Marseille)

Teams

Last Sunday’s Clasico, which is played between Olympique de Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain, has fuelled debate and captured newspaper headlines incessantly over the course of the last week. In the days prior to France’s most special club clash, publications all over the country were flooded with discussion, interviews and predictions regarding the forthcoming game, but in the early part of this week there has been no analysis or incrimination about football.

Rather, it has been off the field events that have provoked thought and comment, as the game was postponed just hours before it was due to kick-off as the LFP (Ligue de Football Professionel) decided that the health risk in playing the fixture was too high.

Swine flu was the underlying cause of this postponement. The PSG camp had been the unfortunate scene for an infection of the H1N1 virus, which affected a number of players. Of those tested, Ludovic Giuly and Mamadou Sakho were the most seriously ill, with the former forced to rest at home towards the tail end of last week.

Neither Giuly nor Sakho were deemed fit enough for inclusion in the squad that was to travel south to Marseille, but Jeremy Clement was part of the 19 man party. The anchoring midfielder would only become a confirmed case on the Sunday, but his presence on the journey to Stade Velodrome was one that caused controversy and prompted OM to react angrily in the aftermath of the postponement, as it was strongly suspected that he had the illness.

In short, the whole thing was something of a farce.

The LFP came under pressure on Friday to make a decision regarding the potential postponement of the match. They commendably released a statement on the Saturday to indicate that the game would go ahead as usual.

However, the problems started on Sunday lunchtime, when a couple more swine flu cases were confirmed in the PSG squad. Suddenly the LFP got cold feet and elected to err on the side of caution, calling the game off and in the process jilting hundreds of Parisiens fans at the alter.

Without a win in five league matches and short of a handful of first team players due to injury, Antoine Kombouare’s side smirked, but les Phoceens, a side building some momentum ahead of a crucial period of the season, were part puzzled, part furious.

It was at this point that Marseille descended into something of a madhouse. A power keg of tension at the best of times, the travelling supporters, who had made the journey of 400 miles were unsurprisingly not too pleased with this news. Sadly, predictably violent incidents occurred in the city’s old harbour and at the train station, leaving a handful of people with minor injuries.

PSG have promised to reimburse supporters and seem generally satisfied to replay the match at a later date, but this is not the case with OM, who have sniped at their capital city rivals for putting unnecessary pressure on the LFP to cancel the match and who have complained profusely of the potential this postponement causes for fixture congestion.

Clubs that tend to do battle on the pitch are now brawling publicly in the newspapers, though les Parisiens are doing their best to come across as the smiling good guys by stating their desire to be accommodating to their opponents with regards to the rearranged date.

Only OM largely have their hands tied on this front.

With November scored out due to European and international commitments, December 2 had been muted, but les Phoceens do not want to play the match in such close proximity to a potential pivotal Real Madrid Champions League game. They have also rejected a January 9 date as it would shorten their players’ winter break. With January and February heaving with cup fixtures, there is no guarantee that both sides will be free in the same midweek, and the return fixture in Paris is due on February 28.

In the light of these headaches, the LFP should perhaps have acted more carefully. The inconvenience to hundreds of fans was gross, and although violence was a likelihood at this fixture in any case, such scenes would have been lessened had the match gone ahead as planned.

As OM head coach Didier Deschamps pointed out, “Some people have flu all the time; we’ve demonised the H1N1 strain. I don’t want to play it down, but people die from flu every year.”

Furthermore, the former Juventus coach also noted that “Grenoble played with two ill players”, while Nice were reportedly shorn of Drissa Diakite and Eric Mouloungui because of flu when the met, and hammered, Olympique Lyonnais last Saturday.

Indeed, swine flu seemed to be an excuse the out of form Parisiens were happy to play up as a reason for postponement of this game. The LFP’s rule had suggested that as many as eight players would have to be affected before a game could be called into jeopardy, but H1N1 was hardly epidemic in their squad.

And, if the fears over the virus were so great, why did they take Clement with them on the plane to the south of the country?

While PSG are now given a chance to regain their form as well as players before the rearranged Clasico, Marseille must stew in frustration, steaming that fate has dealt them a poor hand.

Are Marseille being melodramatic over the postponement of this game or were PSG overplaying the problem in their camp? Was swine flu just a convenient excuse for les Parisiens to replay the game when they are in better touch? Goal.com wants to know what you think…

Robin Bairner, Goal.com

Thank you for your comment!

Please enter your name

Please enter your location

Please share your comment!