the winners will lift the trophy in the stands to avoid an invasion of the field, explains the prefect

Whatever the outcome of the match between Nantes and Toulouse on Saturday April 28, the winners will not lift the Coupe de France trophy on the lawn, but “in the grandstand” of the Stade de France, says the Paris police headquarters in a press release on Friday. The prefect Laurent Nuñez explains that he requested this change in protocol from the French Football Federation, as well as the installation of raised grids at the bottom of the stands in the bends, to “security reasons”.

However, he does not mention the particular political context of the match: Emmanuel Macron will attend, and the CGT of Seine-Saint-Denis intended to distribute red cards and whistles to spectators wishing to express their rejection of the pension reform. An action undermined by the ban on assembly decided by the police headquarters on Friday, which the CGT is challenging in court.

The press release from the prefecture does not mention this question to justify the security risk, but refers to “the invasion of the pitch and the incidents that followed at the end of the semi-final match between FC Nantes and Olympique Lyonnais”. On April 5, Nantes supporters celebrated the qualification on the lawn of the Beaujoire stadium.

On Twitter on 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. She announces that she has taken legal action to request their withdrawal.