The opening football event of the Paris Olympics 2024 was marred by violence and controversy as fans invaded the pitch, leading to suspension of play. The game saw Morocco eventually beating Argentina 2-1 after a VAR review after the game was suspended with the score being tied at 2-2. Chaos broke out after the Argentine team equalised in the 16th minute of the added time. As the agitated Morocco fans invaded the fans, the referees were forced to suspend the game and security emptied the stadium.
Moroccan fans took the pitch and throwing flares and objects near the Argentinian dugout and players rushed for escape. The game was resumed two hours after with Argentina’s goal disqualified by VAR as one of the players involved in the build-up to the goal was offside. Both the teams were asked to warm-up for 15 minutes and game ended 2-1 in favour of Morocco U-23.
After the match, Argentina’s coach for the tournament , Javier Mascherano, called the result and joke and said that the gameplay was the ‘biggest circus I have ever seen in my life.” Argentina’s Cristian Medina scored deep in injury time to score what looked like a 2-2 draw. However, the decision ruled out the goal delivered about two hours after game was suspended when the teams re-appeared on to the pitch to finish the game in closed doors.
On the other hand, Argentine football great Lionel Messi took to Instagram to express his disappointment with what happened in Paris. He wrote on Instagram story, “Unbelievable.” In another match, Spain took down Uzbekistan 1-2 at the Parc des Princes in western Paris with March Pubill and Sergio Gomez scoring for the his side, while Eldor Shomurodov scored once for Uzbeks.