“beIN Sport kills Ligue 2”: hundreds of tennis balls thrown onto the pitch lead to the interruption of Metz-Bastia

Des centaines de balles de tennis ont été lancées sur la pelouse. – Capture d'écran

The Metz-Bastia match for the first day of the French Ligue 2 championship was interrupted for about twenty minutes on Monday evening due to tennis ball throwing by supporters in a context of anger at the scheduling of matches this season.

“Football is the weekend” and “beIN Sport kills Ligue 2”, could be read on two banners displayed in the kops of the Saint-Symphorien stadium, where spectators chanted slogans insulting the Professional Football League (LFP) and the beIN Sports channel, which broadcasts L2.

Just after the kick-off, a first volley of tennis balls was thrown from the stands onto the pitch. After a call for calm from the stadium announcer, play resumed, but a few dozen seconds later, more balls were thrown, leading the match referee, Aurélien Petit, to send both teams back to the locker rooms. The scoreboard then showed 2,45″ of play.

Towards a supporters' strike ?

Messins and Bastiais returned to the pitch a quarter of an hour later for a quick new warm-up while a message read by the speaker at the Metz stadium warned that the match would be definitively stopped in the event of a new interruption.

The game then resumed. The 2024-25 Ligue 2 season started in a tense climate, with the decision by the LFP, in agreement with the broadcaster beIN Sports, to play a majority of matches on Fridays and Mondays not going down well with the supporters. Their associations had announced a "strike" of all their entertainment in the stands, as well as actions aimed at disrupting the broadcasting of matches, until negotiations are concluded with the League and the television channel.

Monday evening's match in Metz is the first to have been interrupted in this way.