Sentences ranging from two months to a year in prison, suspended, accompanied by stadium bans of one to three years, were required on Wednesday in Angers against five supporters of the SCO. They had been indicted following excesses during the match against Marseille on September 22 (0-0). The criminal court will render its decision on June 8 concerning these incidents which did not cause any injuries.
Aged 22 to 35, these supporters had been indicted in particular for unauthorized entry into a sports competition with the intention of disturbing it, a specific breach of the sports code. Three of them are also indicted for violence committed in a meeting in a sports arena.
The incidents occurred after the match, when the players had already returned to the locker room and the stands were beginning to empty.
“Clearly, the Marseillais wanted to come to the confrontation”
the president of the court
According to the account given to the hearing, confirmed by a video, firecrackers broke out on the side of the Marseille supporters. Overflowing the stewards, they entered the field and headed towards their Angevin counterparts. “Clearly, the Marseillais wanted to come to the confrontation”summarized the president of the court, Catherine Ménardais.
“Certainly, there was an attack from the Marseillais, and a response from the Angevins”, commented the public prosecutor, Marie Le Cornec. Hence the reaction of the five defendants, one evoking “a case of self-defense”another explaining having “wanted to serve as a safety cordon […] I did not go to the confrontation but it was necessary to be a little virulent to push them back”.
“The stewards were overwhelmed, there were no police, I saw no other solutions”explained a third, claiming to have wanted “protect” the supporters of his group, for the most part “young people, minors”.
Four of them have a job and the youngest is a student. All five belong to groups of Angevin supporters and have supported the club for several years. An investigation is still underway on the Marseille side to determine the supporters in question.
At the beginning of October, the Disciplinary Committee of the Professional Football League had cracked down after these incidents, Marseille notably receiving a suspended one-point withdrawal. Angers had been sanctioned with two matches behind closed doors for its Coubertin stand, one of which was suspended, and a fine of 20,000 euros.