The penalty shootout turned into chaos. At the end of the play-off match for accession to Ligue 1 between AS Saint-Etienne and AJ Auxerre, Sunday May 29, at the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium in Saint-Etienne (Loire), violent scuffles took place. broke out, catching law enforcement off guard.
After the winning shot on goal sending Auxerre to Ligue 1 and the whistle sealing the descent to Ligue 2 for the Greens (1-1, 5 shots on goal to 4), angry Saint-Etienne supporters invaded the field, even before the exit of players. Throwing smoke bombs and projectiles and violence against the police caused minor injuries. Franceinfo takes stock of this violent end to the match.
The pitch invaded at the whistle
The violence erupted at the final whistle. Hundreds of Saint-Etienne supporters left the stands to invade the field when the players were not yet in the locker room. One of the supporters even entered the field with a security barrier, noted an AFP journalist.
While a large part of the fans quickly returned to the stands, some, ultras, mostly from the Green Angels group, remained on the lawn to launch smoke bombs at the benches, fireworks and other projectiles towards the official Pierre-Faurand stand, protected by the police.
The land is completely overgrown. #ASSEAJA @franceinfo @francetvsport pic.twitter.com/Kv1isnyTFz
— Elio Bono (@eliobonobo) May 29, 2022
The players of both teams were immediately evacuated to the locker rooms, protected by stewards, under the throwing of projectiles from the supporters. Security forces responded with tear gas to disperse the crowd. “After the match, I freaked out because I took tear gas canisters, like my players. We counted each other to find out if there were any missing. These incidents are very sad”commented the Auxerrois coach, Jean-Marc Furlan, to AFP.
Images from the hallway of the locker room showed players, stewards and members of the management coughing under the effect of tear gas. The commentators of Prime Video, the official broadcaster of the meeting, also had fits of coughing.
The stadium evacuated in 30 minutes
The play-off against AJ Auxerre was played in a particular context with a closed stand, due to the throwing of smoke bombs during the ASSE-Monaco match on April 23. This previous meeting, counting for the 34th day of L1, had been interrupted twice, the second time for more than half an hour, while ultras from Saint-Etienne launched smoke bombs and fireworks to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Green Angels.
A device “exceptional and reinforced, by nearly 500 agents”according to ASSE, and “250 police and gendarmes” had been mobilized for Saint-Etienne-Auxerre, completes the prefecture. It still took half an hour for the police “prepositioned” to intervene and “proceed without delay to evacuate the individuals responsible for this intrusion”said the Loire prefecture on Sunday evening.
#ASSEAJA | At the end of the play-off match between ASSE and AJ Auxerre, and after the penalty shootout, several hundred ultra supporters invaded the field and threw projectiles, fireworks and smoke bombs towards the public and the stands. pic.twitter.com/To6E2BypYX
– Prefect of the Loire (@Prefecture42) May 29, 2022
During the intervention of the police on the ground, movements of panic also affected the stands.
Several injured including the child of a player
Once the field has been evacuated and the stands emptied, around 200 ultras, according to the special envoy of franceinfo on the spot, caused further damage around the stadium. The Prime Video production bus was the target of projectiles, the broadcaster told AFP.
Everything went back to normal from 11:15 p.m., according to the Loire prefecture. “The use of tear gas and a water throwing device allowed the dispersal of most of the troublemakers”she detailed. “The 1,154 AJA supporters and then the players were able to leave the stadium safely, under police escort, from midnight.”
Minor injuries are to be deplored, including fourteen among the police, seventeen among the supporters and two among the players of the AJA, detailed, Sunday evening, the prefecture of the Loire. Three supporters were taken to hospital for checks. The toddler of Zaydou Youssouf, defender of Saint-Etienne, present in a gallery, “found himself in respiratory failure because of gas”precise The Team (paid article).
The club exposed to new sanctions
Some Saint-Etienne fans have tried to legitimize this violence. “We’ve been close to Ligue 2 for three years, so we’re very angry. We have to come to violence”, testified a supporter to RTL. Others blamed these acts. “We can’t accept that a football match ends like this. We can’t put lives at stake, it’s not possible”denounced another woman interviewed by the radio near the stadium.
For her part, the prefect of the Loire, Catherine Séguin, condemned “with the greatest firmness these unacceptable, irresponsible and unworthy acts on the part of a minority of individuals claiming to be supporters of ASSE, but who are all simply thugs”. In an official press release published overnight from Sunday to Monday, the Saint-Etienne Sports Association also condemned “firmly these actions”. ASSE ensures that it provides all its support to those affected and specifies that it will begin “the necessary legal procedures”.
The club risks new sanctions when it is already on probation because of excesses linked to its supporters. After the interruption of the match against Monaco in mid-April, the Professional Football League (LFP) ordered Geoffroy-Guichard behind closed doors until the end of the season. The barrage against AJA was also played with a closed stand and the match against Reims, during the 37th day of Ligue 1, took place without supporters.
As soon as the relegation was confirmed, a press release from the shareholders also hinted at the upcoming sale of the club. Roland Romeyer and Bernard Caïazzo promise “an important piece of news concerning the future of the club and ours”adding that“an essential page of our life will turn”. In the greatest confusion.