how the authorities justify the ban on the travel of opposing supporters for many matches classified as risky this weekend

According to a decree signed by the Minister of the Interior, these meetings present a “real and serious risk of clashes between supporters”, in the context of “exacerbation” of “increasingly serious” violence.

Visitor parks will remain empty. Almost a week after the death of a Nantes supporter, Saturday December 2 on the sidelines of the Ligue 1 match between FC Nantes and OGC Nice, the State and the French football authorities took radical measures in the face of to the increase in violence in recent weeks inside and outside the stadiums. The Ministry of the Interior has banned the travel of opposing supporters for five matches of the 15th day of the French championship and three matches of the 8th round of the Coupe de France scheduled from Friday December 8 to Sunday December 10 and classified as risky.

According to the decree signed by Gérald Darmanin and published in the Official Journal, these meetings present a “real and serious risk of clashes between supporters”in a context “exacerbation” of violence “increasingly serious”. They are classified by the National Division for the Fight against Hooliganism on a scale “risk of overflow” from 1 to 5, explains The Parisian.

The bans for these risky meetings should last at least until December 18, the Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, having called on Tuesday to “a moratorium on fan travel” until this date. This day must be heldhe meeting of the National Supporterism Authority (INS) where all the players in this issue will meet (authorities, sports authorities and supporters’ representatives), specifies The Parisian. In the meantime, here is how the authorities justify the bans imposed on weekend meetings.

Montpellier-Lens, Friday at 9 p.m.

For the match between Montpellier and RC Lens, Lensois supporters are therefore prohibited from traveling to the Mosson stadium. In a decree published (in PDF) Wednesday, the Hérault prefecture recognizes that“there is no dispute between the supporters of the two clubs”. However, referring to the death of the Nantes supporter last weekend, she declared that he “any person claiming to be a supporter of the RC Lens club, or behaving as such, is prohibited from accessing the Mosson stadium”. The decree also mentions, as noted The voice of the Norththat“a religious event is organized in the city center, as well as a concert by the artist Christophe Maé” mobilizing “the police services given the current vigilante posture”.

In a press release, RC Lens denounces the “rushed timing” of this decision and questions the ban on‘”an unclassified risky encounter”.

PSG-Nantes, Saturday at 9 p.m.

Even before the ban was imposed at national level, Nantes supporters knew that they would not be able to attend the match against PSG on Saturday evening at the Parc des Princes. They were “sanctioned by the disciplinary committee of the [Ligue de football professionnel] after the use of smoke bombs”reports The Parisian.

The Paris police headquarters and the Hauts-de-Seine prefecture confirmed this ban in a decree taken on Thursday, saying they feared “clashes and violent incidents”. “There is a long-standing antagonism between Karsud, a group of Parisian hooligans, and the Loire Brigade,” main ultra group of FC Nantes, they justify. The authorities also specify that “any chance or provoked encounter between risky elements from PSG and FC Nantes would be likely to cause serious disturbances to public order.”

A week after the death of a Nantes supporter, there is also “a significant risk that the su“porters of FC Nantes make massive use of pyrotechnic devices, display banners hostile to the management of the Nantes club and multiply the invectives”. “Such maneuvers would be likely to cause tensions with the stewards and Parisian supporters present in the adjoining stands”adds the decree.

Nice-Reims, Sunday at 1 p.m.

Stade de Reims supporters are also affected by the travel ban. The Alpes-Maritimes prefecture justifies its decision, in a decree published Wednesday, by “the very violent incidents having occurred on several occasions during Ligue 1 matches in the first part of the 2023-2024 season”. “The risk of serious disturbance to public order is proven”, she notes. The prefecture also highlights “the strong involvement in the various public order measures put in place every weekend on the occasion of the end-of-year festivities of the Alpes-Maritimes department as well as the progress of two protest demonstrations planned as part of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Sunday December 10. She finally mentions the “terrorist threat”.

The Stade de Reims therefore announced, on its website, that it had “closed the sale of places in the visitors’ sector for this meeting” which will take place at the Allianz Riviera and “go proceed with automatic reimbursement, without any necessary handling, of all Reims supporters who had already reserved their voucher for [le match] OGCN-SDR”.

Lyon-Toulouse, Sunday at 5:05 p.m.

Toulouse Football Club supporters will not go to Groupama Stadium in Lyon on Sunday. “The individual or collective movement, by any means, of any person claiming to be a supporter of the Toulouse Football Club or behaving as such, is prohibited between the municipalities of the department of Haute-Garonne, on the one hand, and the municipalities of Décines-Charpieu, Meyzieu and Lyon (Rhône), on the other hand”we can read in the decree of the Minister of the Interior, in the absence, this time, of a prefectural decree.

Furthermore, the prefecture of Haute-Garonne (in PDF) has also already announced that travel by Stade Rennais supporters would be prohibited on Sunday December 17.

Lorient-Marseille, Sunday at 8:45 p.m.

Marseille supporters will also not take their place in the visitor parking lot at the Moustoir stadium in Lorient. The ban, taken by order of the Morbihan prefecture, concerns “at least 300 supporters coming from Marseille [et rejoignant] Lorient on a trip organized by bus”. She justifies her decision by “the classification of the match as risk level 1 by the National Division for the Fight against Hooliganism of the Ministry of the Interior, in particular due to the volume of supporters and popular enthusiasm”. OM supporters are thus prohibited from access “at the Yves Allainmat stadium [stade du Moustoir] in Lorient” and circulation within a perimeter defined in the decree published Wednesday.

Three Coupe de France matches also affected

Beyond the matches of the 15th day of Ligue 1, three matches of the 8th round of the Coupe de France classified as risky are also affected on Saturday. Supporters of the Girondins de Bordeaux are prohibited from traveling to Angoulême-Bordeaux (Saturday at 2 p.m.), those of Nîmes Olympique to Saint-Etienne-Nîmes (Saturday at 3 p.m.) and those of AJ Auxerre to Saint-Méziéry-Auxerre (Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Aube stadium in Troyes).