2023-06-03 18:03:57
The 2022-2023 French football season had so far been rather calm. But this Friday evening, it is as if the old demons of French football had suddenly come out of their box, in several stadiums. Stopping of the Bordeaux-Rodez match after an Ultra-Bordelais hit a Rutenian player, invasion of the Océane stadium in Le Havre before the final whistle, clashes in Ajaccio between Corsican and Marseille supporters: a hellish evening for French football.
The 2022-2023 season had been rather calm, although in recent weeks several incidents have nevertheless erupted. On April 14, a few minutes after Olympique Lyonnais’ loss at the expense of OM (1-2) at the end of the 32nd day, the supporters of the two teams came to blows and sought to fight it out. Violent altercations took place on the forecourt of the Lyon enclosure, giving rise to absolutely deplorable scenes. Racist insults were also uttered, as evidenced by a video posted on social networks. The police intervened to restore order and an investigation was opened.
More recently, last weekend, ‘ultra’ Red Star supporters burst into the club’s lounges post-match for the final game of the season. About forty supporters forced their way into the Bauer stadium partner lounge. Armed with bags of fake blood, they overturn the tables, grab the smallest bottle to throw it on the ground and cause a great panic in the middle of the hundred guests present. A very violent action which is particularly shocking when many came with their families, accompanied by children. This action came after a season of protest caused by the arrival of an American owner.
Another recent overflow, the demonstration of certain ultras of PSG at the home of Neymar, which was bad manners at the time of a new crisis in the club of the capital and was even little appreciated by the CUP.
VIDEO. “Break yourself”: angry PSG supporters in front of Neymar
“Individual skids are very difficult to prevent”
As for the events of this Friday, they have their particular history. It is difficult to find common points in these overflows. “What happened in Bordeaux was the work of an isolated person. It is difficult to draw conclusions from this apart from the fact that there is a structural problem with the stewards since the Covid. They are very often poorly trained and badly paid…” analyzes a fine connoisseur of security issues and supporterism in France. “The problem with individual slippages is that it is very difficult to prevent, for example the bottle throwing in Lyon on Dimitri Payet last year. The club is very organized and they couldn’t do anything, ”says this specialist.
The question of festive invasions is a little less problematic for observers. “When the supporters are there to celebrate, it is hard to stem the wave when it is gone”, notes one of them with the Parisian. For the record, the 2021-2022 season had been a real nightmare for the authorities and the authorities. The figures for the season testified to an extraordinary exercise, with 11 pronounced closed sessions, 35 closings of stands, 24 closings of parking lots, and 130 travel bans. A year to forget for French football marked in particular by rare measures, such as Nice and Lyon sanctioned with a withdrawal of one point after violent incidents during matches against OM.
Does this mean that the management of supporters is an endemic problem over which French football has no control? This is not the opinion of one of the references in the matter, Ronan Evain, executive director of Football Supporters Europe. ” The strategy supporter of the LFP is bearing fruit but it is for the very long term. There is still no real institutional change between last season and this season ”, assures the one who is an interlocutor of the public authorities. “We have returned to a form of routine, the clubs are doing a pretty good job. There is a long-term approach of the majority of French clubs which means that things are slowly improving, ”he also explains. An optimistic vision that requires confirmation. In the meantime, Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra has already decreed “zero tolerance” on the issue.
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