By: Tim Stannard

Stadium closures, bans, suspensions - all on the table in response to Nice-Marseille derby chaos

A meeting room in Paris, France on Wednesday is set to see some very, very, very serious faces indeed as a disciplinary committee and representatives of both Nice and Marseille try to work out what the heck happened in their match on Sunday, who was to blame, and what should be done about it. 

To recall everything that occurred from the 75th minute would take quite a while but the 101 version is that bottles were thrown at Marseille players by Nice Ultras - not for the first time in the game - and one struck Dimitri Payet. 

The French forward threw it back angrily and approached the Ultras along with Alvaro Gonzalez. In response, Nice Ultras clambered through barriers and came onto the pitch. Fights then broke out between the players, backroom staff and security in a proper definition of a 'melee' before everyone was ushered back to the locker rooms. Oh, Nice were winning 1-0 at the time. 

About an hour later, the Nice players came out to play the remainder of the game - the referee even blew the whistle to restart the match - but the match was immediately abandoned because of a no-show from the Marseille players. The club's officials claim that it was not safe to return to the pitch. 

It terms of the punishments to come, pretty much anything goes in terms of stadium closures for Nice and suspensions for the players and staff - and definitely Jorge Sampaoli - who let a local derby get out of control, and then some. 

Marseille and Nice also get busy with deals 

Coincidentally, Marseille and Nice are involved in the main transfer news of the day. Pol Lirola is joining Marseille from Fiorentina on a permanent basis, having spent part of the season on loan at the Velodrome last year. The Spanish fullback is signing in a deal worth around $15 million. 

Nice are set to pick up Algerian international forward, Andy Delort from Montpellier. The 29-year-old scored 15 Ligue 1 goals last season and has already knocked in two this year. 

Another deal that looks set to be done and dusted in Ligue 1 on Monday is Xherdan Shaqiri joining Lyon from Liverpool, having spent three seasons with the Anfield club. The human dynamo will now be playing in his fifth league having starred in Switzerland, Germany, Italy, England and now France. 

The Swiss midfielder could make his debut for Lyon's Ligue 1 clash at Nantes that is live on beIN SPORTS on Friday from 2:50 PM ET / 11:50 AM PT. 

Simeone seeks another striker 

Atletico Madrid may be at the top of LaLiga once again with two wins from two, after Real Madrid and Barcelona both drew at the weekend, but that hasn't stopped Diego Simeone from demanding more from his bosses.

Simeone is observing that he only has one striker - the elderly but respectable Luis Suarez - but the club is on the market for another. "We will look where we can to get one, and if one doesn’t arrive, we will find a solution," promised Simeone after Sunday's 1-0 win against Elche. 

School children plan for Paralympics

The Tokyo Paralympics get underway on Tuesday with the same background as last month's Olympics - growing COVID-19 cases in the country, and supporters not being allowed to watch the Games. 

However, there may be some good news. There are plans to allow school children attend some of the events and watch the approximately 4.400 athletes that are participating from 160 countries and territories.