The disciplinary board of France’s top professional football league has confirmed the 2-0 victory of Le Mans over Bastia on the final day of Ligue 2, sealing the Manceaux’s promotion to Ligue 1 while relegating the Corsican side to Ligue 3.
The decision came after match officials halted play with seconds remaining at the Stade Armand-Cesari. Le Mans players were led to the dressing rooms as fireworks and smoke bombs rained down from the stands, preventing the game from resuming.
Disciplinary sanctions against Bastia
The disciplinary committee also handed Bastia two closed-door matches and one suspended closed-door match for the incidents. However, the club avoided the deduction of a league point that had been a possibility, given its prior disciplinary record.
Club president Sébastien Deneux explained that “points are typically deducted when a match participant is directly affected by an incident. Since no player or official was hit by any projectile during the Le Mans game, the committee saw no grounds to activate the suspended sanction.”
Recent history of crowd trouble at Furiani
Bastia’s relief comes just months after a similar incident forced the abandonment of their December match against Red Star. A smoke bomb struck Bradley Danger, leading to a 0-0 verdict on the pitch and a one-point deduction on probation for the club.
The disciplinary board’s decision underscores the delicate balance between maintaining sporting fairness and addressing stadium safety concerns in French football’s lower divisions.