VIDEO. “Screams in the stadium, investigation into racism in football”, a documentary which analyzes the ravages of xenophobia in the stands

Football is the most popular sport in the world and also the one in which incidents of racism are the most publicized. If the Professional Football League (LFP), associated with Licra, has been trying since this year to fight against this scourge, many European club leaders remain locked in a form of helplessness in the face of a problem that has lasted for decades.

The documentary Screams in the stadium, investigation into racism in football, produced by journalist Mohamed Bouhafsi and broadcast Tuesday June 11 on France 5 (9:05 p.m.), analyzes the ravages of this xenophobia in professional and amateur football. Rich in archives and numerous testimonies from footballers and club presidents, it traces the genesis of this discrimination and also draws up an alarming observation.

Racist songs and slogans, insults and banana throwing have multiplied for many years in European football stadiums and more specifically target black players or players of North African origin. A racism that really took shape in the 1980s, in England and Italy, in contexts of major economic and social crises. Far-right groups flourish and their activists then make these sports arenas the receptacle of their most nationalist ideas and the place of expression of their xenophobia.

This phenomenon particularly affects the stands of French stadiums. If at the beginning of the 1990s, the Paris-Saint-Germain club saw the emergence of extremist hooligans and crystallized this racism, the epidemic of this violence appeared, over the years, also on the fields of other League teams. 1.

“Certain stands in France are less known and, yet, they are also symbols of right-wing extremism. This is particularly the case in Lille, and has been for a long time.”

Sébastien Louis, historian and specialist in fanism

In the documentary “Screams in the stadium, investigation into racism in football”

The Lille club (Losc) concentrates several groups of ultras: the Gremlins, the Dogues Virage Est, the Losc Army. These associations bring together supporters who claim to be far-right and proudly display ostentatious Nazi signs, even if the law prohibits it. Present in the stadiums at each championship match, they display their convictions through thisCeltic kings, swastikas, racist rhetoric and tattoos. “I have been president of Losc for three years and I have never seen supporters with racist connotations and characteristics,” however, supports Olivier Létang, president of the Lille club, in the documentary.

When Mohamed Bouhafsi shows him the photo of a Lille supporter who clearly displays Nazi tattoos or skulls called “Totenkopf” on his chest, the manager claims not to know him. “We have identified groups of supporters, not those. I don’t know them,” assures the club manager.

However, it is impossible for Olivier Létang not to know him, believes Streetpress journalist Christophe-Cécil Garnier, who has been working on this thorny subject for a long time. He explains that this man, clearly visible in the Lille stadium, who publicly imposes the display of his convictions, necessarily belongs to a group of perfectly identified far-right ultras. “This person, if she was really unknown to the ultra leaders (…) cannot be here without knowing anyone. In a park, that is hardly possible”he explains.

If the leader of Losc recognizes that certain hooligans are indeed identified, he confesses his helplessness as to how to manage them. “The question is: what are the tools to be able to get these people out of the stadium? Today, we don’t have themagrees Olivier Létang. Are these people who are completely opposed to our values? Yes ! Are these people we don’t want to see in a stadium? Indeed, yes.” An admission of helplessness which confirms how complex it seems for football authorities (professional leagues and federations) to really tackle this problem head on.

If thehe “Leproux plan” attempted to curb violence between PSG supporters after the death of Yann Lorence during a brawl in 2010, the problem of racism was never really combated with adequate measures. She nevertheless increasingly corrupts a majority of football stadiums, particularly in France, and led to a commission of inquiry to the National Assembly which submitted a report in January 2024 to fight against discrimination and this violence. Faced with the inertia of leaders, players are taking the reins of the revolt and no longer hesitate to show their solidarity to fight against this endemic racism.

The documentary Screams in the stadium, investigation into racism in footballproduced by journalist Mohamed Bouhafsi, is broadcast Tuesday June 11 at 9:05 p.m. on France 5 and on the france.tv platform.