Sad news:Lyon manager Fabio Grosso ‘seriously injured’ after Marseille bus attack

Lyon’s head coach, Fabio Grosso, suffered “severe” face injuries when the French club’s squad bus was attacked by supporters throwing projectiles before Sunday’s match in Marseille. The league match on Sunday evening was called off due to an incident on the Lyon bus, which damaged windows as it arrived at Stade Velodrome. Social media footage appeared to suggest that stones were thrown, and Grosso and his aide, Raffaele Longo, were injured by falling glass shards.

French football’s governing body took the decision to abandon the Ligue 1 fixture after an emergency meeting. Grosso, the former Italy international and World Cup window, was pictured on a stretcher with a bloodied face after the attack.

The governing body, Ligue de Football Professionnel, said in a statement: “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

OL issued a statement strongly condemning the attack, adding that they had initially looked for the match to go ahead, before realising the conditions of Grosso and Longo were “much more serious than expected” and due to the “mental state of the players”.

The club said: “This Sunday evening, at the entrance to the Velodrome stadium, several individuals violently attacked the Olympique Lyonnais bus, as well as its staff and players

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.

“In fact, several secure windows were broken by heavy projectiles of unknown nature. These same projectiles penetrated the interior of the bus.