we explain the imbroglio surrounding the travel ban on Sevilla FC supporters to Lens

RC Lens hosts Sevilla FC on Tuesday, on the occasion of the sixth and final day of the Champions League group stage.

A new ban that makes Sevilla FC supporters cringe. While the Andalusian club must go to the RC Lens pitch on Tuesday December 12 (6:45 p.m.) for a decisive match in the Champions League, its supporters will not make the trip.

The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, announced to the media on Sunday Raw, two days before the match, the ban on Sevillian supporters from going to Bollaert-Delelis. A statement which caused a reaction, both among fans of the Spanish club and among Lensois supporters. Franceinfo: sport summarizes this new episode of tense relations between public authorities and supporters.

A tense travel context

This government decision, initiated by the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra who wishes “a moratorium on fan travel” by December 18follows the attack on the Lyon bus in Marseille on October 29, then the death of a Nantes supporter on Saturday December 2, after an altercation with Nice supporters.

The minister wanted security in stadiums to be strengthened and the Ministry of the Interior announced, Friday December 8, a travel ban on opposing supporters for eight matches (five in Ligue 1, three in the Coupe de France). This decree was introduced with the aim of countering a “real and serious risk of clashes between supporters”in a context “exacerbation” of violence “more and more serious”.

Friday evening, a few hours before the kick-off of the match between Montpellier and Lens, affected by these bans, the Council of State suspended some of these orders, judging them “disproportionate” and carrying “a serious and manifestly disproportionate attack on fundamental freedoms”.

This decision did not preventhe Minister of the Interior to once again prohibit the movement of supporters, this time for foreign supporters, recalling thatevents “raise the particular question of football”sport where “the supporters, not all but a small part, are the most violent.”

Sevilla FC furious after this announcement

The announcement caused a stir in Andalusia. The Sevilla FC club was quick to react via a scathing press release on Sunday December 10. The club initially recalls that it has not received “no communication from UEFA or the French authorities” and that this decision “harms its supporters in particular and football in general, with disproportionate measures which do not seem justified.”

To contest this, the leaders have “made representations to the Spanish government”for the main reason that “many supporters have already had flights and trips to France confirmed to attend the match against Lens”. The club concludes its press release by announcing that it will send a formal complaint to UEFA regarding the procedure.

Monday December 11, Seville also announced to submit, jointly with the National Association of Supporters (ANS), a “urgent appeal against the administrative decision to prohibit access to any Sevilla FC supporter” in and around the city, and “against the decision of the French Interior Ministry last night to ban flights”. The objective of the Iberian training is to obtain a solution “as quickly as possible” and she does not exclude that it could be found on Tuesday morning.

Lensois supporters express their solidarity and offer their places

The Andalusians are not alone in this fight, since they have received the support of Lensois supporters and even the National Association of French Supporters (ANS). The latter communicated on X (ex-Twitter) a message. “Dear friends of Seville, we apologize on behalf of French football”.

Racing supporters, in particular the Red Tigers, the main group of supporters, wanted to experience a full match and in turn disapproved of Gérald Darmanin’s announcement via a press release. Through this, intended for the government, the group of Lensois supporters reminds that the “Sevillian supporters have already booked and paid for their means of transport, their tickets and their hotel night and do not have to suffer from your incompetence”. They also announce that they will ensure “to welcome the Seville supporters, even if it means leaving their seats to bring them into their stands”.

The Lensois coach, Franck Haise, himself commented on this decision to AFP on Monday. The French coach, who regrets his form “late” of the decision, considers that “this way” is not “the good solution” and wonders ahead of the Olympic Games next summer in Paris. “There are 300 or 400 of them, and at the last moment, we tell them no because there are certain problems and all the countries have them (….) How are we going to do for the Olympic Games, if we can’t welcome 300 Sevillians on our soil?, asked the northern training technician.