FRENCH club Nice have been docked a point and ordered to play further games behind doors after a violent brawl with Marseille.
The Ligue 1 rivals faced off on August 22 in a game that was suspended after a huge clash between fans, players and staff.
With 15 minutes to go in the game, Marseille winger Dimitri Payet was hit on the back of the head by a bottle launched from the home end at the Allianz Riviera.
The 34-year-old writhed in pain on the floor before picking up the missile and launching it back into the stand.
A number of Nice players were furious at the reaction and, within seconds, a scrap broke out among the footballers.
It did not take long for both dugouts to get involved and a mass of fans then descended from the stands.
The sorry episode left a number of players with injuries, including Marseille trio Matteo Guendouzi, Luan Peres and Payet.
Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivere would later claim the away team were faking their battle scars.
Ligue 1 officials investigated the brawl and have now docked Nice a point for the behaviour of their fans and players, with the suspension of a further point penalty in place for future misdemeanours.
Having already played their subsequent game against Bordeaux behind closed doors, the Riviera club must also play another two home games without supporters.
That includes the replay of the Marseille game, which Nice had led 1-0 before the original match was abandoned.
Marseille physio Pablo Fernandez has been handed the longest ban after the incident, with his punishment lasting to June after he hospitalised a fan with a single punch amid the melee.
Fellow Phoceens man Alvaro Gonzalez has been banned for two matches and the defender reacted with a social media post blaming the Nice fans as ‘the culprit’.
Payet has been given a suspended one-game ban for throwing the bottle back at the crowd.
The immediate result of Nice’s punishment is the club dropping a point below their south coast rivals into fifth place.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
