Ajaccio ruled to play Ligue 1 playoff home match behind closed doors

PARIS, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The French Professional Football League (LFP) on Tuesday ruled that second-division side Ajaccio had to play their home match of two-leg playoff in an empty stadium.

Last Sunday's match between Ajaccio and Le Havre was running in a thrilling manner, not only for Ajaccio's victory over Le Havre through penalty shoot-out, also for some controversial clashes between the two sides.

Le Havre stated that their player Jean-Philippe Mateta was hit by the opponent, and the club president Vincent Volpe was pushed in the stands, as well as racist abuse targeted at the players in the stadium.

The match had already been postponed for two days as some Ajaccio fans threw stones at Le Havre's bus before the match originally scheduled on Friday.

LeHavre requested the governing body to annul the results and hand the victory to them, which was not supported by the LFP.

In Tuesday's statement, the LFP said that competition rules stipulate very clearly that the loss of the match is effective only when a suspended player appears on the match sheet.

However, due to pitch invasion, racist abuse and incidents in the stands, Ajaccio were ruled to play Wednesday's first leg of playoff against Toulouse behind closed doors in Montpellier.

Ajaccio and Toulouse will compete for the final Ligue 1 spot next term through two-leg playoff, with the second leg slated in Toulouse's home on Sunday. Enditem