Chaos at Paris Olympics as Argentina match suspended and players flee after fans invade pitch and throw firecrackers
And it wasn't the first time today were the Argentina have felt the wrath of fans
CHAOS broke out on the first day of action at the Paris Olympics with a pitch invasion and firecrackers causing a football match to be suspended.
Argentina were taking on Morocco in a fiery opening fixture to the football tournament before the match was resumed an hour later.
Copa America winners Argentina thought they’d snatched an equaliser through Cristian Medina in the SIXTEENTH MINUTE of injury time to draw 2-2 with Morocco.
But the game was sensationally resumed after the longest delay in VAR history.
Match officials found Medina’s header to be marginally offside, and cancelled out the goal after 90 minutes of suspended time.
The late drama seemingly sparked the shameful scenes before the match was suspended but Morocco eventually ran out 2-1 winners.
Some idiot supporters began to hurl firecrackers and bottles at Argentine stars, forcing them to flee the pitch.
In a viral clip, Argentine players can all be seen leaping at the same moment, seemingly reacting to a loud bang.
Manchester City striker Julian Alvarez was among the South American players seen trying to avoid being hit by flying objects.
A few individuals then began storming the pitch after allegedly throwing noise bombs before the final whistle.
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What's happening today at The Games?
WHAT TO WATCH TODAY...
THE PARIS 2024 Olympics started with a stunning Opening Ceremony – and now the Games really do begin.
SunSport brings you all the action taking place in the French capital on a thrilling first full day.
Josh Tarling and Anna Henderson are both in road cycling time trial action along the streets of Paris (from 1.30pm), leading today’s Brit medal hopes.
Michael Bargeron and Seonaid McIntosh team up in the 10m mixed shooting trying to win the first gold of the 2024 Games (10am).
In diving, 3m synchro pair Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen could medal (10am).
And Team GB expect a medal from their swimmers in both of the 4x100m freestyle relays (8.30pm).
While three-time Olympic gold medallist Adam Peaty begins his quest for 100m breaststroke glory (heat 10.30am, semi-final 8.15pm).
And Max Whitlock is eyeing a pommel horse medal for a fourth Games in a row as gymnastics qualifying gets underway (10am).
Click here for all the events taking place at Paris 2024 today.
Follow all the action as it unfolds with our Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE blog.
Riot police entered the field to prevent the drama from escalating.
Footage on Eurosport cut to a wide angle of the pitch in a bid to stop the nasty scenes being shown.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the match was officially over or had been suspended with total confusion for those watching.
It’s understood the referee had NOT blown the full-time whistle when the players left the pitch.
There remains uncertainty over whether the game was officially over.
On the official Paris Olympics website it says the game is ‘Interrupted’ rather than ‘Finished’ as it does for properly concluded matches.
The IOC has serious questions to answer over the security and the sporting integrity if the match isn’t officially finished.
Earlier problems
During the second half, the game was paused due to a pitch invader, but it was a young child looking for a selfie with Alvarez, who obliged.
Morocco and Argentina were competing in a Group B fixture, with Iraq and Ukraine making up the rest of the group.
The feisty encounter took place at the Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium in Saint-Etienne, which Moroccan fans filled to the brim.
The match got off on a sour note with the Argentina national anthem being booed.
It’s understood that was from local French fans in reaction to a video of Argentina players singing a racist chant as they celebrated their Copa America success.
Thrilling match
Morocco went 2-0 up five minutes into the second half of the game.
A spirited fightback saw Argentina make it 2-1 with 20 minutes remaining.
However, nobody could have predicted what happened next.
With numerous subs made by each side, as well as several injury issues holding up the game, an eye-boggling 15 minutes was added on to the end of the match.
And with the clock running 30 seconds past the allotted time, Argentina bundled an equaliser over the line through Medina.
Some fans were left convinced that the game was “rigged” after the dramatic equaliser.
Many fans watching from home went online to claim that the match was “rigged”, despite there being no indication it was.
One said: “They’re trying to make this Argentina team the team of the century, we can tell it’s rigged.”
Another declared: “They rigged extra time to continue until Argentina scored, what a joke.”
One noted: “Let them play on until Argentina scored, rigged!”
Another added: “I’m not an expert but that was obviously rigged for Argentina.”
Match suspended and goal disallowed
However, Medina’s header was ruled out following a marginal offside AFTER the game was suspended following a pitch invasion.
The match resumed in an empty stadium almost 90 minutes later.
Players were left waiting in the dressing room as chiefs scrambled to resolve the issue.
After 10 minutes of warm-up time, the game resumed for three-added minutes.
Argentina were unable to net another equaliser as Morocco held firm to land an incredible 2-1 victory.
