Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior Eric Dupont-Moretti, and Roxana Maracineanu, Minister for Sports, met on Tuesday, November 23 at the Ministry of the Interior, football representatives after a spectator threw a bottle at Marseille captain Dimitri Payet during the Ligue 1 match between Lyon and Marseille on Sunday, November 21 at Groupama Stadium. The incident had led to the definitive end of the meeting.
Violence in the stadiums: it is necessary “to improve the control of access to the stadiums”, declares Gérald Darmanin and “to evacuate the active minority which pollutes this beautiful spectacle which is football”
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The Professional Football League (LFP), the French Football Federation (FFF), representatives of referees, players as well as those of several football clubs gathered around the table for the first time. At the end of the meeting, Gérald Darmanin affirmed that the exchanges carried sur them “improvements needed” to prevent such overflows from recurring “so that football remains a great popular celebration”.
“We agreed to work together quickly and to make proposals to the Prime Minister and the governing bodies in a fortnight”, continued the Minister of the Interior. If no decision has yet been taken, qFour lines of thought were mentioned by Gérald Darmanin: the ban on stadiums, the security of the enclosures (in particular with protection videos and nets), private security (in other words access to the stadium) and the acceleration of decision of a match stoppage (how and with what responsibilities). The role of the arbitrator and the prefect in such situations will also be redefined.
The decisions will be “why not legislative, and certainly regulatory”, said the Minister of the Interior, in order to “to be able to quickly evacuate the active minority which pollutes the beautiful spectacle” and guarantee “to the vast majority of football fans to be able to live out their passion in complete safety “ protecting “the players, the referee” and “everyone who goes to the stadium”.
The representatives of football were united: “French football presented itself united”, chanted Vincent Labrune, the president of the LFP who greeted a “constructive exchange”.