“Players are afraid when traveling,” warns the UNFP

The vice-president of the Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) David Terrier is concerned about the growing violence around football matches.

In recent weeks, Ligue 1 matches have been marred by serious incidents. The latest, the death of an FC Nantes supporter. While the OM-OL match will be replayed on Wednesday December 6 at the Vélodrome stadium, the vice-president of the UNFP, the National Union of Professional Footballers, David Terrier is concerned about the overall climate around French football.

Franceinfo: What is your view on the recent events that have affected French football? ?

David Terrier: On the UNFP side, we are very worried and we denounce it. We try to act on several levels, because the players ask us and require us to take up this subject. Players are worried, players are afraid when traveling, or even sometimes during training, whether with opposing supporters or their own supporters. This is a subject that has become very important to us.

The match between Olympique de Marseille and Olympique Lyonnais, scheduled for October 29, will be replayed on Wednesday, in a special context. Have you received any feedback from OL players?

There is indeed fear on the part of the Lyon players. So, yes, it was coach Fabio Grosso who was seriously affected, with mental and physical after-effects that he will have for life, it is obvious. But there were also all the players, all the staff… The players, I put myself in their place: we ask them to play in the same stadium with the public, in the same conditions. Psychologically, for me, the match is flawed. OL players are not in optimal conditions to play this match.

Would it have been better to play the match behind closed doors?

The right solution, if we had it, would be too easy. There is no good solution. But we can think that it would have been fairer if the match was played on neutral ground. We should also not sanction OM players, who had nothing to do with it. The neutral ground would have at least protected the players in their minds, in their psychological state. Here, this is not the case.

What do you think of the moratorium desired by the Minister of Sports and the president of the LFP, prohibiting the movement of supporters during risky matches?

This is not the right solution. We have to stop making PR effects. I understand the political side, especially in a very important period with the Olympic Games which will take place in Paris, and the fact of having a positive influence on the image of France in the world. It’s normal for politicians to react in this way, except that we are not looking at long-term and lasting solutions. I think we need to adapt the laws, rules and sanctions to the new problem. Today’s fans cannot be managed like fans of ten or twenty years ago.

“The football platform is used to highlight social problems and it goes too far, with deaths. It’s not understandable.”

David Terrier, vice-president of the UNFP

at franceinfo

It is not possible that football can cause deaths. We must protect sport, athletes but also fans. And to protect them, we must make laws that are adapted to today’s issues.