Chaos and confusion reigned on Wednesday as Morocco beat Argentina 2-1 in their opening game of the Olympic men’s soccer tournament, but only after a late equalizer for the South American side was disallowed and the final minutes were played out in an empty stadium following crowd trouble.
Argentina thought they had escaped from the Group B match in Saint-Etienne with a 2-2 draw when Cristian Medina scored in the 16th minute of added time.
But as their players celebrated, projectiles including bottles and plastic cups rained down from the stands and several spectators entered the pitch, with the referee promptly blowing the whistle.
The teams left the playing area, but the referee had not blown for full-time and the outcome of the match was completely unclear until the sides finally reappeared two hours later to play out three more minutes in a stadium by now emptied of spectators.
Medina’s goal was eventually disallowed for offside following a VAR review, and Morocco held on for all three points.
It was an undignified start to the sporting action at the Paris Games, and a bad day all round for Argentina, whose players were booed as they emerged onto the pitch and during the national anthem by the crowd, most of whom were supporting Morocco.
That welcome came after Argentina players were filmed singing racist chants following their victory in the recent Copa America.
“It is a circus,” complained Argentina coach Javier Mascherano.
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