We will have to wait more than two months before being able to set foot in the Populaire Sud again. The prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes announced, this Monday evening, the closure “For the next four matches played at home” from this stand at the Stade de Nice, after the projectile throws that led to serious incidents the day before during the match between OGC Nice and Olympique de Marseille. Supporters had entered the field and several players received blows. After more than an hour and a half of interruption, the match was definitively stopped, OM refusing to return to the pitch.
“Faced with the seriousness of the incidents that have occurred, without waiting for the sanctions that it is up to the Professional Football League (LFP) to decide, the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes took the following decisions this evening: closing the People’s South tribune where the incidents broke out for the next four matches played at home ”, can we read in a press release.
This therefore means that we will not see any ultras in the bubbling Nice stand before November 7 and the reception of Montpellier. At least. Because the disciplinary committee of the LFP could decide on heavier sanctions. She will be in charge of the three disciplinary aspects of the case: the behavior of the Nice supporters, which can lead to sanctions for OGC Nice (closing of stands, withdrawal of points, etc.), that of the players in the game (players, management, managers) who may be sanctioned with matches or periods of suspension, and finally the fate of the match (score maintained, defeat on the green carpet or match to be replayed).
A man in custody
While it is closing, the grandstand will also undergo a small facelift. The prefect indeed announced the “Setting up as soon as possible of an anti-projection net in front of the People’s South tribune”. But also the“Study of a reinforced device for securing the Visitors’ stand in order to prevent projections and attacks” and the“Enactment of individual stadium bans against individuals perpetrators of violence as soon as they are identified by the police”.
The Nice prosecutor’s office announced on Monday the opening of several investigations, in particular for “Projectile throws” and “Aggravated voluntary violence”. A 28-year-old man, suspected of having beaten an OM player, was arrested near Nice and taken into custody on Monday at the end of the day.
“The penetration into the field of a few dozen supporters and the violence committed were quickly brought under control thanks to the action of the stewards and the security forces, without the need to use force”, considers the prefect in his press release. “After a few minutes, the supporters who had entered the pitch were all pushed back into the stands. As calm had returned to the stadium, the conditions were met to allow the match to resume under normal security conditions ”, he continues. An opinion that did not share Dimitri Payet, Steve Mandanda and the other players of Olympique de Marseille.
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