Following the violent incidents that occurred on Thursday (April 14) evening in Sète, their rivals in the 2021/22 French Men’s Volleyball Championship playoff quarter-finals, Narbonne, refused to play the next match on Saturday (April 16) evening.
No.4 Narbonne withdrew from Game 4 of the 2021/22 Ligue A Masculine playoff quarter-finals against No.5 Sète. The reigning CEV Challenge Cup winners decided to do so following the violent incidents that occurred on the court in Sète (full video) on Thursday evening after Game 3 in which the home side prevailed 3-1 and reduced the gap in the series to 1-2. Such a decision of Narbonne, even though the league’s organization decided not to allow spectators to attend Game 4, led to their forfeit defeat and punishment of 10,000 euros by which their rivals got 2-2 in the series. Narbonne will host Sète on Wednesday (April 20) for a decider for the semi-finals.
The fight broke out a few minutes after the end of the 3rd match, while the Narbonne players returned to their bench. Verbal tension mounted with spectators from the VIP stand. A member of the security service then hit the Narbonne physical preparation trainer, the Argentinian Leandro Lardone, in the face after an argument causing him to fall to the ground. The Sète security service intervened to push the visiting players, who tried to pursue the puncher, during which the 2 players were injured, away towards the center of the court. These two players and the physical trainer filed a complaint, while Sète also filed a complaint because of a deterioration of the locker room by the Narbonne delegation.