15 pitch invaders arrested during Ligue 1 clash of Nice and SC Bastia

Players of Nice and SC Bastia fight after their match

15 Nice fans were arrested during their match against SC Bastia in the Ligue 1, which ended up in a 1-0 defeat to Bastia. It looks like politics and football got mixed again.

Just days after Serbia’s Euro 2015 qualifier with Albania was abandoned in appalling scenes, this match between Nice and Bastia saw a group of ultras invade the pitch after the substitute goalkeeper of Bastia waved a Corsican flag at Nice’s supporters.

During this invasion, a host of punches were thrown around, which caused the security to invade and arrest 4 supporters for violent misconduct. No player was hurt in the process as they were hurried down the tunnel by the security forces when the fans invaded the pitch. However, most of the arrests happened before the game as a group of 11 supporters were detained after scuffles on a bus on the way to the Allianz Riviera.

Marcel Authier, the head of the department of public safety, says the clashes were completely unexpected, but he praised the security and said that the event was handled well by them. “ [The pitch invasion was] totally unexpected. There is no reason to suggest that it could be. The stewards and police officers acted accordingly." said the head of the department