In the wake of the violent incidents which preceded the Europa League match Nice – Cologne (1-1) at the Allianz Arena on Thursday evening, UEFA came forward on Friday and announced that it would open procedures disciplinary action against either club.
These measures follow the opening of three investigations already opened by the Nice Public Prosecutor’s Office “with the aim of identifying and arresting the perpetrators of the offences”, which are violence in meetings on the outskirts and inside the ‘Allianz Riviera, damage and throwing of smoke bombs on the sidelines of the meeting.
For its part, UEFA has announced that it is opening two investigations. The first concerns Nice and covers the following points: “throwing of objects”, “use of smoke bombs”, “incidents in the stands”, “identification of persons responsible”, “staff safety”, “limitation of spectator movement” and “blocking of public passages”.
The second, relating to Cologne, relates to “throwing objects”, the “use of smoke bombs” and “incidents in the stands”. The UEFA Disciplinary Committee will meet shortly. It is likely that the Nice club will be sanctioned for any shortcomings in the organization of the match. The Cologne club will have to answer for the aggression of some of its supporters on Nice spectators in the hours preceding kick-off.
“The UEFA delegate took a very clear position, which was that the match was going to be played, that the temperature would go down and that it would be easier to manage the fans if the match took place, explained Jean-Pierre Rivère, the president of OGC Nice during a press briefing this Friday. I only had this contact with UEFA. Not after the game. I think UEFA was happy with how the match went. Fortunately, during the match, nothing happened.
As for the rest, Rivère believes that his club, as the exclusive victim of the overflows, should not suffer sanctions: “We see that it is the Germans who attacked, he pleads. Fortunately, some stewards from us have blocked them. I hope there will be no penalties. I hope. Are you going to sanction the city of Nice because there has been damage in the city? »