Paris Olympics get off to chaotic start as Argentina footballers attacked and Australian cyclist robbed

by Admin
July 25, 2024

The opening ceremony for the 2024 Olympics may not have taken place yet but there has already been plenty of drama in Paris.

Two weeks of jam-packed action in Paris have already started with football and rugby sevens events, which began two days before the opening ceremony.

Handball and archery also start on Thursday with the first gold medal events taking place this weekend.

But the start of the Olympics Games have not gone to plan for organisers following a chaotic match between Argentina and Morocco.

Bottles were thrown at Argentina players in their match against Morocco

REUTERS/INSTAGRAM

The Argentina national anthem was loudly booed inside the Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium in Saint-Etienne following Enzo Fernandez’s controversial video earlier this month.

There still appears to be bad blood towards the Argentina national side as a result of the now-deleted video.

Morocco had taken a two-goal lead against Argentina before they fought back to level the score with a dramatic equaliser from Cristian Medina.

But their celebrations were soon followed by a pitch invasion with flares and bottles thrown onto the pitch at the Argentina players.

Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg then ordered both sets of players off the pitch with the match suspended.

Neither side initially wanted to return to the field but, 90 minutes after the match was suspended, Medina’s equaliser was being checked by VAR for offside.

A final decision came almost two hours after the match had originally been stopped with the goal ruled out and play resuming for three minutes.

The rest of the match was played behind closed doors as well due to the fan trouble earlier.

There has also been a setback for Australiam BMX Olympic champion Logan Martin, who was hit by a robbery on the eve of the sporting event.

Anti-riot police were deployed at the Argentina and Morocco match

GETTY

Martin, who arrives in Paris looking to defend his gold medal from Tokyo, took to Instagram this week to post a video showing his team’s van had been broken into.

It showed the passenger seat window had been smashed with glass scattered all over the floor.

The 30-year-old revealed that his bikes were thankfully not in the van, but his packpack and wallet were missing.

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Logan Martin won gold at the Tokyo Olympics

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“Our van got broken into last night,” Martin said.

“Luckily my bikes weren’t in there, although my bike bags were in there with some things in it.

“What a crazy start to the trip.

“Thank god for bag tags.”