The sports director of FC Cologne is “stunned”, the coach of Nice had “never seen that”. On the sporting side, the events of Thursday evening at the Allianz Arena shocked.
But the harshest words come from the political class: “It is fed up, it is really fed up that our sport is soiled in this way”, annoyed Thursday evening the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. “I like football but there, what a shame, it disgusts me!”, Launched the mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi, in Nice-Matin.
Because the images are edifying: an hour before the kick-off of this Europa League Conference meeting, hundreds of hooded supporters in the colors of Cologne invaded the presidential stand, sometimes armed with chairs or iron bars torn from the stadium. , to go do battle with the people of Nice.
The game was still played, but an hour late.
A total of 32 people, including two police officers and a steward, were injured. Among them, four supporters were hospitalized, including a Parisian supporter, “very alcoholic” and infiltrated among the Germans, who fell five meters in the stands. His vital prognosis is no longer engaged, according to the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes.
PSG “condemned with the greatest firmness” this violence on Friday, taking care to specify that the Parisian supporters’ club of “Supras Auteuil”, whose banner was deployed in the stand allocated to the Germans in Nice, was dissolved there. more than ten years ago and that its members are banned from entering the Parc des Princes.
Friday morning, there had not yet been any arrest, but the Nice prosecutor’s office promises “video analysis work” within the framework of the three investigations opened, in particular for “violence in meetings” and “degradation in meetings” .
– “Reinforced security” in Marseille –
Was the security system sufficient to manage the Nice supporters and the 8,000 German supporters? According to the prefecture, 650 police and gendarmes had been deployed, as well as 600 stewards within the Allianz Riviera.
“Security inside the stadium is primarily the responsibility of the organizer. But as soon as the first incidents occurred, I gave the order to bring a CRS company into the enclosure. Police officers from the Intervention Section rapid (SIR) were also arranged in the stadium”, explained to AFP the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes, Bernard Gonzalez, underlining the presence of “350 ultras” among the German supporters.
The Minister of Sports promised to take stock with the Ministry of the Interior “on the facts and responsibilities”. As for UEFA, it had not yet spoken on Friday afternoon.
“Our supporters have nothing to be ashamed of. I’m not afraid of a stadium suspension. It would be too unfair,” the Nice coach reacted hotly on Thursday evening.
In a press release, the president of FC Cologne, Werner Wolf, “condemned in the strongest terms the odious events that have occurred on both sides”.
All eyes are now on Marseille, where around 15,000 German supporters are expected on Tuesday for OM-Eintracht Frankfurt on the second day of the Champions League. And to a lesser extent to Monaco, which will receive the Hungarians from Ferencvaros on Thursday, and Rennes, with the arrival of the Turks from Fenerbahçe.
Questioned by AFP, the Bouches-du-Rhône police headquarters indicated that the planned device had not been modified at this stage in light of the events of Thursday in Nice. A “reinforced security device” is planned, with police officers from Public Security and CRS, said the PP, without giving figures.
OM’s last two European matches at the Vélodrome had been marred by incidents. And everyone keeps in mind the fiasco of the Champions League final at the Stade de France, two years before the Paris 2024 Olympics.
