return, 25 years later, on the tragic story of Daniel Nivel

A France-Germany friendly match is due to be played on the evening of Tuesday September 12. It will be in Dortmund (Germany), and in the stands there will be a distinguished guest. It will be Daniel Nivel, a gendarme. On June 21, 1998, in the middle of the World Cup in France, his squadron was dispatched to Lens (Pas-de-Calais), at the Bollaert stadium, to ensure the security of the Yugoslavia-Germany match. The match has just ended and his life has just been turned upside down. It was 25 years ago. Daniel finds himself alone, beaten in the head by ultra-violent hooligans and remains in a coma for six weeks.

More generally, he remains seriously disabled

This barbaric attack aroused a lot of emotion, there were many tributes at the time. In Germany, reactions were very numerous with prison sentences ranging from 3 to 10 years for six young Germans. They are now free. The Federation invites Chief Warrant Officer Nivel as soon as it can, like this evening with this match against Germany. More generally, he remains seriously disabled, with a 70% loss of his abilities, explains France Télévisions journalist Samuel Ollivier.