City Football Group’s Troyes’ match abandoned with club on brink of successive relegations

Troyes, the Ligue 2 club owned by the City Football Group, saw their home league match against Valenciennes abandoned following supporter unrest with the club on the brink of their second successive relegation.

The game was paused in the 89th minute with the match poised at 1-1, after a number of flares and smokebombs were thrown onto the pitch from a section of the home supporters. It was subsequently abandoned by match officials.

Troyes — who were relegated from Ligue 1 last season — are on the brink of their second successive demotion; the abandoning of this match leaves them seven points from safety with just three matches remaining to play.

Troyes said in a statement after the match that the club “condemns the actions of a minority of supporters following this evening’s home game against Valenciennes.

“Pyrotechnic devices were thrown from the stands onto the field on several occasions, which ultimately prevented the end of the match. These actions resulted in the referee having no choice but to suspend the match before its conclusion.”

The statement concluded: “The context of fan disappointment does not excuse or mitigate this behavior, and we now await decisions from the football authorities.”

Troyes were bought by City Football Group in September 2020 but despite promotion to Ligue 1 in that 2020-21 season, their results on the pitch have suffered in the past two campaigns.

They finished 19th in Ligue 1 last season — 12 points from safety — and they are now set for relegation to the Championnat National, the third tier of French football.

Founded in 2013, City Football Group are majority-owned by Abu Dhabi United Group, owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the Abu Dhabi Royal Family and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates.

Manchester City are the group’s flagship club, with Troyes among 12 other clubs that include Spanish team Girona, Italian Serie B side Palermo, MLS club New York City and Yokohama F Marinos of Japan.

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