UEFA summon Marseille over Anfield incident

UEFA said Friday it has summoned Marseille before its disciplinary panel on December 11 after some of the French club's fans threw objects onto the pitch in Wednesday's loss at Liverpool.

“A disciplinary case has been opened against Marseille for the throwing of projectiles,” a UEFA statement said.

Liverpool star Steven Gerrard appeared to be hit by objects thrown from the away end during the Champions League game at Anfield, which the English outfit won 1-0, as he went to take a corner.

UEFA confirmed Thursday the incident would feature in Portuguese referee Olegario Benquerenca's report as well as that of UEFA delegate Svein Johannessen.

Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez said: “It is good that UEFA have acted. But the problem is that it is just one person out of thousands who decides to do something like that, so how can you control it? It is not easy to stop these things.

“It is difficult to control everyone, if someone wants to do something like this then it is hard to stop.

“You can fine the club and look for solutions afterwards, but you cannot control everything. But the response of Gerrard was very good.”

Gerrard's only reaction was to fix a look on the Marseille section and then turn away to take a corner.

UEFA furthermore confirmed it had also fined Marseille 15,000 euros following a similar incident at their Stade Velodrome ground in September when Liverpool were the visitors.