Firefighters try to extinguish a fire during clashes between protesters and police in Corte on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica on February 16, 2016. French club Bastia have "categorically refused" an order by the French Professional League (LFP) to advance the kick-off time of their Ligue 1 game against Nantes on February 20 amid security fears in Corsica. The decision to bring the game forward from 20:00 local time (1900GMT) to 14:00 (1300GMT) was requested by police on the French Mediterranean island after violence sparked by Corsican fans during the league game at Reims on February 13. Fans threw fireworks at police before and after the match in the Champagne region with the violence spilling into the town when a 22-year-old Corsican suffered a serious eye injury while being pursued by police. Fresh clashes erupted on Tuesday when around 50 masked individuals interrupted peaceful demonstrations by throwing Molotov cocktails at police forces, who in turn responded with tear gas to quell the trouble. / AFP / Pascal POCHARD-CASABIANCA (Photo credit should read PASCAL POCHARD-CASABIANCA/AFP/Getty Images)
Bastia's Ligue 1 home match against Nantes this coming Saturday has been postponed due to a number of violent clashes between fans and police.
The violence was sparked after several fans were arrested and one was injured following Bastia's match with Reims last Saturday which resulted in a crowd of nearly 100 people attacking a nearby police station, trouble then continued into Monday and Tuesday.
The Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) originally ordering this weekend's match to be moved from 19:00 GMT to 13:00 GMT but after Bastia refused the game was scrapped completely and will be replayed on March 9th.
LFP president Frederic Thiriez said: "I cannot tolerate that football be a pretext for violent actions."