Olympics kick off... in more ways than one! (Men's Football, Argentina v Morocco)

[Lord Camomile]

So, the first sporting events of Olympics 2024 saw two football matches kick off at 2pm (GMT).

Spain beat Uzbekistan 2-1, and Morocco pulled off the first shock of the Games beating Argentina by the same scoreline. But, only after the match was suspended for two hours, concluding in an empty stadium, following fan trouble when Argentina seemed to equalise in the 16th minute of added time!

Olympics football: Crowd trouble sees Morocco's win over Argentina delayed before play resumes

Crowd trouble forces the first football match of the Olympics to be delayed by almost two hours, with Morocco finally beating Argentina 2-1 in an empty stadium.

www.bbc.co.uk

Crowd trouble forced the first football match of the Olympics to be suspended for nearly two hours amid chaotic and worrying scenes, with the game eventually completed in an empty stadium.

Morocco had been 2-0 ahead against Argentina, who pulled a goal back and were pushing for an equaliser. Cristian Medina then appeared to have made it 2-2 in the 16th of what had been 15 scheduled minutes of injury time at the end of the second half.

• Immediately after Medina looked to have made it 2-2, a number of cups and bottles were then thrown at the celebrating Argentina side before what appeared to be a flare landed near the players and coaching staff.
• A number of fans in Morocco colours also ran on to the pitch, with some being escorted off the pitch by stewards.

After the resulting crowd trouble, play finally resumed after a lengthy delay with no fans present, and with VAR having ruled out Argentina's equaliser, Morocco secured a controversial 2-1 victory.

Arguably not the start the organisers would have wanted, and must be hoping it can be quickly swept under the carpet of the Opening Ceremony. Though there are two full days before that, so this story could run for a while...

 

[planetgeli]

"Benefits of VAR thread" ->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

[Lord Camomile]

"Benefits of VAR thread" ->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

[krtek a houby]

So, the first sporting events of Olympics 2024 saw two football matches kick off at 2pm (GMT).

Spain beat Uzbekistan 2-1, and Morocco pulled off the first shock of the Games beating Argentina by the same scoreline. But, only after the match was suspended for two hours, concluding in an empty stadium, following fan trouble when Argentina seemed to equalise in the 16th minute of added time!

Olympics football: Crowd trouble sees Morocco's win over Argentina delayed before play resumes

Crowd trouble forces the first football match of the Olympics to be delayed by almost two hours, with Morocco finally beating Argentina 2-1 in an empty stadium.

www.bbc.co.uk

Arguably not the start the organisers would have wanted, and must be hoping it can be quickly swept under the carpet of the Opening Ceremony. Though there are two full days before that, so this story could run for a while...

That's disappointing.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

There's Olympics again? How did I miss that?

 

[klang]

There's football again?

 

[klang]

There are empty stadiums again?

 

[klang]

Before the opening ceremony?

 

[hash tag]

Not a great start
"Argentina coach Javier Mascherano has described the chaotic ending to his team's 2-1 loss to Morocco in the men's Olympic football tournament as a "disgrace" and "a circus".

Crowd trouble forced the first football match of Paris 2024 to be suspended for nearly two hours, with the game eventually completed in an empty stadium."

 

[skyscraper101]

The story was mysteriously missing from BBC breakfast sports segment this morning.

I ended up going on Discovery+ to watch the highlights and skipped to the end to see the drama but they cut out pretty much everything from the moment the first pitch invader got on the field and then cut straight to the resumption of play in an empty stadium. Tres bizarre.

 

[two sheds]

yes just a few seconds of things being thrown from the crowd hitting Argentinian players. Is this a trend following on from the Euros?

 

[Silas Loom]

Was this because of the Argentinian racism towards the French national side?

 

[two sheds]

ahhhh yes may well be