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Bastia still searching for stadium after crowd trouble

Bastia are searching for an alternative venue for Saturday's home clash with Guingamp after plans to switch it to the nearby Stade Ange Casanova fell through.

After extensive crowd trouble marred their win over Nice on March 7, Bastia were ordered to play matches away from their home ground the Stade Armand Cesari and behind closed doors.

Bastia, who on Monday referred the decision to the French Olympic Committee (CNOSF), proposed the home of Ligue 2 side Gazelec Ajaccio as a short-term replacement venue but that was rejected by the French league (LFP).

The club revealed in a statement on their website: "After consultation with the prefecture of Corsica, the LFP decided not to allow the Stade Ange Casanova as a reserve ground for the match between Bastia and Guingamp on March 21, which must be played behind closed doors.

"Meanwhile, the club is still awaiting the response of the adjudicator of the CNOSF after yesterday's appeal."

The match against Nice, which finished 2-1 to Bastia with their opponents down to nine men, was delayed twice -- once when fans repeatedly threw balls onto the pitch and once when objects were thrown at Nice's Eric Bautheac as he prepared to take a corner.

The LFP's disciplinary commission also noted the use of 66 pyrotechnic devices, objects being thrown at Nice players during the warm-up and the use of offensive language and banners.

An LFP statement last Thursday concluded: "The commission announce the precautionary suspension of the Stade Armand Cesari from Friday March 13 until a final decision is taken by the commission.

"The match or matches affected must absolutely be held behind closed doors."

With Gazelec's ground ruled out, options on the French mainland which have been mentioned in reports in France include Martigues, near Marseille, and the Stade Sebastien Charlety -- the home of Paris Saint-Germain's women's team and formerly used as a temporary base by capital-based rugby union team Stade Francais.