A fan invasion in the opening match of the Olympic football tournament between Argentina and Morocco on Wednesday caused chaos, with Argentina eventually beaten 2-1 following a VAR review after play was suspended with the score tied at 2-2.
Argentina’s Cristian Medina scored deep in injury time to salvage what looked like a 2-2 draw, but the decision ruling out the goal for offside was delivered about two hours after play was suspended.
After order was restored in Saint-Etienne and the teams had left the field following the fan invasion, they discovered that the match had not been completed but suspended by officials.
The venue manager told Reuters the game had been interrupted, adding that a decision about whether the match would be completed was being discussed.
The teams re-emerged on to the pitch to finish the match in an empty stadium, playing for three minutes and 15 seconds after VAR completed its review and disallowed the goal.
“I don’t remember something like this happening at this level, that the match is suspended for an hour and a half, warming up for 10 minutes and then play three,” said Argentina manager Javier Mascherano.
“What happened on the pitch was a scandal, it’s not a neighbourhood tournament, it’s the Olympics.”
Organisers later said they were working with stakeholders to understand the causes of the pitch invasion and determine appropriate measures.
Soufiane Rahimi scored twice for Morocco, the second goal from the penalty spot early in the second half, before Giuliano Simeone pulled one back for the 2004 and 2008 gold medallists in the 68th minute.
Hosts France later made a good start to their tournament in Marseille with two goals in eight minutes after the hour mark and a late header from Loic Bade gave them a comfortable 3-0 win over the United States.
Source:reuters.com
