If Nantes and Toulouse face each other on Saturday evening in the final of the Coupe de France, another very political match will be played in the stands.
Will the Canaries retain their title tonight against Toulouse? This is the challenge on the side of the lawn for the final of the Coupe de France, which is played this Saturday April 29 at 9 p.m. at the Stade de France in front of 78,000 spectators. But another match, political, also surrounds the meeting. Emmanuel Macron, like every year, is expected on site, and the unions do not intend to miss the opportunity to be heard. We take stock of what we know.
>> FRANCEINFO INTERVIEW. The final of the Coupe de France must remain “a sporting issue before being a political issue”, considers the interim president of the FFF
Gatherings banned by the prefecture
They wanted to make the stadium the echo of the protest: the unions had planned to distribute whistles and red cards before the match, near the exits of RER B and D, for a symbolic action “in two stages, namely when Macron will take to the field, and possibly at the 49ᵉ minute and three seconds to express their refusal of the pension reform”. But the Paris police headquarters banned the rally planned by three Seine-Saint-Denis unions. According to the decree published by the police headquarters, “the rally declared by the Departmental Union CGT 93, the Departmental Union FO 93 and the Union Syndicale Solidaires with a view to distributing leaflets against the pension reform (…) is prohibited”. There are several reasons for this ban. Among other things, failure to meet deadlines for declaring a gathering, a “serious problem of crowd management” between supporters and potential demonstrators, or even the use of whistles during the sports meeting, prohibited by FFF regulations.
The inter-union will challenge this decree before the administrative justice by filing a summary-freedom before the administrative court. The CGT denounces “a serious violation of civil liberties”. His new boss, Sophie Binet, guest of franceinfo, judged “scandalous to ban the distribution of leaflets” of the CGT before the final. The FSU93, for its part, is concerned about a “a rather worrying liberticidal precipice for our freedoms”.
The prefect of police of Paris Laurent Nunotez justified the ban on whistles on Saturday morning on RMC: “ITheir introduction is prohibited by the FFF rules so as not to disturb the refereeing.. But, he asserted, “we are not going to prevent people from entering the Stade de France with red cards.”
No power cut
The CGT boss brushed off the risk of a power cut in the final, as happened during a Pro D2 meeting between Agen and Nevers this week. “There is a generator [au Stade de France]so the current will be maintained”she explained.
A large police force
The memory of the fiasco of the organization of the Champions League final is still very fresh. And one year from the 2024 Paris Olympics, the prefecture has no way of repeating the images. 1,000 additional police and gendarmes were mobilized. In total, they will therefore be 3,000 on deck this evening. Inside the stadium, 1,400 security guards will be deployed by the FFF, announced its interim president Philippe Diallo to franceinfo, for his first speech since his appointment.
The trophy presented in the stands
Because the prefect fears “land invasion and incidents” as happened at the end of the semi-final between FC Nantes and Olympique Lyonnais, “the presentation of the trophy” will “in the stands”specifies the prefecture in a press release. “In the same spirit and for the same reasons”the Paris police chief asked the FFF “let the match be held with the gates up in the bends”.
On Twitter, Friday, the National Association of Supporters is concerned about the grids placed at the bottom of the bends, believing that they could represent a risk in the event of crowd movement. Response from police chief Laurent Nuñez: “The gates raised, this first prevents the invasion of the lawn. But there are safety devices which, in the event of crowd movement, cause the gates to lower. The gates can be opened if there is has a crowd crush.”
Will go down or not go down?
If the presence of the Head of State in the stadium is confirmed, one question remains: will he descend on the lawn before the kick-off of the meeting to greet the players? The Elysée says nothing about it. But according to a friend of the president at franceinfo, “he must not hide, otherwise it is not worth coming”. But as it was Emmanuel Macron who brought the tradition of going to see the players before the match up to date, giving it up would risk being perceived as a step back. “You have to get to the end of the thing, even if the images will be painful”, comments an adviser to the executive. As for knowing if the image of the Head of State will appear on the screens of the stadium, at the risk of encouraging possible opponents, nothing filters either.