Historic football chaos at the Olympics

A pitch invasion in the opening match of the Olympic football tournament between Argentina and Morocco caused chaos on Wednesday. After almost two hours, Argentina’s late 2-2 equaliser against Morocco was overturned after video evidence. The result of the match in Saint-Étienne was changed to 2-1 for Morocco on the official channels after there had been a long period of confusion about the outcome.

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Argentina scored the 2-2 in the 16th minute of injury time. Angry Moroccan fans then stormed onto the pitch in protest against the long injury time allowed by referee Glenn Nyberg. Spectators threw objects, stewards tried to catch the fans on the pitch.

Game ended in empty stadium

Afterwards, there was confusion as to whether the game had already ended or had only been interrupted shortly before the end. The video screens in the stadium showed that the game had been interrupted and that spectators should head for the exit. Fans and many observers assumed that the game was officially over.

The official Olympic website initially said that the equalizer was being investigated for a possible offside position, but the result was given as 2:2. After a break of almost two hours, the players returned to the field in the now empty stadium. After video evidence officially overturned the 2:2 score, play was resumed for three minutes.

Soufiane Rahimi had initially put Morocco in the lead with a brace (45th+2/51st). Giuliano Simeone’s 1:2 (68th) was followed by a late equaliser from Cristian Medina, which was later cancelled out.

Spain won its first match against Uzbekistan 2-1. 21-year-old Almeria defender Marc Pubil scored the first goal of the Olympic tournament in the 29th minute, while San Sebastian’s Sergio Gomez scored the winner after an hour.