Will fan travel bans soon be commonplace in French football? After the death of an FC Nantes supporter this Saturday evening, stabbed by a VTC driver while a convoy of cars had been attacked by Nantes residents on the sidelines of the meeting between the Canaries and Nice, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra banged his fist on the table this Monday morning, on France Inter.
“We can’t continue like this in football, it’s not possible.”
The Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra (@AOC1978) calls for “radical measures” after the death of a supporter in Nantes this weekend, particularly regarding fan travel.#le710inter pic.twitter.com/cjjTFHKOpp
— France Inter (@franceinter) December 4, 2023
“I think we can’t continue like this in football,” she said. I spoke at length with Vincent Labrune, the boss of the Football League, yesterday (Sunday). He shares my distress. » If the Minister of Sports recognizes that this situation “is not specific to France”, citing “what happened ten days ago in Frankfurt with 50 police officers who were injured”, she affirms that “a global response is needed”. “A radical situation requires radical measures. »
“We need a global and extraordinarily determined response”
Recent weeks have been marked by numerous incidents in the stands and around stadiums in France. In addition to the death of this Nantes supporter, there was the attack on little Kenzo in Ajaccio, the firecrackers during Montpellier-Clermont, the attack on the Lyon bus in Marseille, another bus being stoned in Montpellier… between others.
“When the match presents a risk, we must stop at the movement of supporters,” continued Oudéa-Castéra. It is essential to have a time to return to a situation of less violence. It’s just not possible that we have law enforcement that is so overstretched, property destroyed, buses stoned, people injured and now a dead person. Basta, that’s enough! that’s enough ! We are going to take the initiative with the Minister of the Interior (Gérald Darmanin), with the Minister of Justice (Éric Dupond-Moretti), with the Professional Football League, the Federation, all the clubs… We need a response global and extraordinarily determined. »
