“Reinforced security” for OM-Frankfurt, before a high-risk European week – Liberation

Stadiums under surveillance, reduced gauges, reinforced police force… After a 2021-2022 season disrupted by repeated outbursts of supporters, culminating in the organizational fiasco of the Champions League final at the Stade de France at the end of May, French football afraid to fall back. While German, Turkish and Hungarian supporters are expected this week, respectively in Marseille, Rennes and Monaco, the next few days are approached with the greatest caution by the authorities.

The first major concern concerns the reception of Eintracht Frankfurt fans, traveling to Marseille this Tuesday evening on behalf of the Champions League. A week ago, some 200 km away, the Allianz-Riviera in Nice was the scene of clashes between Cologne supporters, Aiglons fans and former Parisian ultras, leaving a total of 32 injured. So of course, caution is in order.

“It looks just as complicated” at the Vélodrome, worries Ronan Evain, general manager of the Football Supporters Europe network, who deplores the lack of anticipation by the authorities and clubs in preparing for these risky trips. “It’s not about clearing people who have decided to cross the red line. The problem is that we have infrastructure and a security culture that are failing and only increase this risk.he asserts.

For Marseille-Frankfurt, the police prefecture says for its part to plan a “reinforced security system”. She has “learned well from previous matches and mobilized substantial additional forces”, argues a source familiar with the matter. As of Monday evening, on the eve of the meeting, she announced on her Twitter account five arrests “after the intervention of police to prevent clashes between opposing supporters in the city center”.

The security device for the match is 1,200 people on the OM side, plus a deployment of law enforcement elements estimated at 500 or 600 men. About forty German stewards will also be present. According to the authorities, Eintracht expects the arrival of 3,300 supporters holding tickets and up to 5,000 other people without titles.

A decree prohibits Frankfurt supporters displaying themselves as such from parking or driving near the Velodrome on Tuesday, “except for those transported in coaches and buses escorted by internal security forces”. The sale of alcoholic beverages to take away will also be prohibited from 2 p.m. in the boroughs of the city center.

And to avoid friction between supporters inside the stadium, OM plans to create a kind of buffer zone around the parking lot. “We are not at peaceargues a source within the club. We want to do everything to prevent things from going wrong.”

Frankfurt supporters were talked about in May in Seville, during the Europa League final won against Glasgow Rangers, with a nighttime fight between ultras from the two clubs. Eintracht has also been under the threat of a disciplinary closed session since the invasion of the field following the C3 semi-final against West Ham. On the Marseille side, the last two European matches at the Vélodrome had also been marked by incidents.

Monaco and Rennes also worried

In Rennes, where the fiery Turkish fans of Fenerbahçe are expected on Thursday (9 p.m.), and in Monaco, where the Hungarian supporters of Ferencvaros, some of whom are linked to the hooligan movement, will travel the same day (6:45 p.m.), vigilance will also be appropriate. To limit the uncontrolled influx of opposing supporters, Stade Rennes has decided to limit the sale of tickets to its subscribers and to the 1,395 visitor parking spaces, reducing the capacity of its stadium from 30,000 to 19,000 places. The prefecture is part of a police device “fabric”while the club mobilizes 160 security guards and 360 stewards for this event which represents “a serious risk” of disturbance to public order.

In Monaco, 900 Hungarians are expected, including 700 in the car park, and sales restrictions have been applied. As for the people of Nice, on a trip Thursday (9 p.m.) to Belgrade to face Partizan in the Europa League Conference, they are moving in an atmosphere that promises to be hot, despite the partial closure of the Serbian stadium for disciplinary reasons. In September 2009, a young French supporter, Brice Taton, died at the age of 28 after falling down the stairs during a violent attack on the sidelines of a European match in Toulouse against Partizan.