The numerous incidents around the pitches in recent seasons and weeks have reignited debates on the return of hooligans to the stands. If hooliganism exists and evolves, it does not concern all the violence which recently shook the stands.
These are strong images of the season, but they do not come from the field. The windows of a bus blown out, a coach with a bloody face. The last match of the 10th day of Ligue 1 between Marseille and Lyon, on Sunday October 29, was the scene of incidents even before kick-off, with the OL bus being stoned on the way to the stadium, in which Lyon coach Fabio Grosso and one of his assistants were injured. Much more serious, on Saturday December 2, a Nantes supporter was killed shortly before the Nantes-Nice kick-off, in an altercation between fans of both camps.
This season, several matches were marked by excesses, in Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, placing the subjects of hooliganism and violence in stadiums take center stage. Are we seeing a resurgence of hooliganism in France? The question is complex since acts of hooliganism and violence around sporting events are difficult to identify precisely, in particular because of the definition and differentiation of dynamics, between hooligans, ultras and supporters.
:quality(50)/2023/12/01/maxbestof278206-656a46fe8635f147210045.jpg)
Today, that of hooliganism is very present on the sidelines of football in France. “From the moment there is a spontaneous confrontation, which aims to damage material goods, which aims to attack opposing supporters for no reason, this must be qualified as hooliganism., explains Dominique Bodin, professor of sociology at the Fontainebleau Institute of Political Studies and specialist on the subject. Four decades after its arrival in France, the hooligan movement has undergone changes. Sometimes called “neo-hooliganism” or “hooliganism 2.0”, it is characterized today in particular by fights between supporters in places far from sports venues.
The National Division for the Fight against Hooliganism (DNLH), dependent on the Ministry of the Interior, regularly observes and produces reports on excesses and arrests during Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 championship matches. These studies outline a tendency : “In terms of arrests, there is an overall increase of 15%, all offenses combined, and all competitions combined”, reveals Thibaut Delaunay, head of the body. That is 878 arrests during the 2022-2023 financial year, compared to 743 the year before. “The two areas where arrests are increasing the most are pyrotechnics and violence, which are also the two areas where the most incidents are reported.”
A hooligan movement moving away from stadiums
The police commissioner also reports a relocation of violent actions. “En outside the stadiums, there has been an increase in incidents of clashes, brawls between supporters, outdoors […]. We are paying attention to it because it demonstrates a change in attitude within the groups, a desire to be more confrontational with the adversary.”, he explains. For the DNLH, the brawls have even spread to environments that were until now less affected. “Before, this phenomenon affected certain clubs and always the same ones. Now it concerns clubs which are less accustomed to this, which have lower volumes of supporters, including in Ligue 2.”
At the same time, French football is also experiencing a certain tension in its stadiums. But it is not always linked to hooligans, who are increasingly excluded from sports venues. “The incidents in the immediate vicinity of the stadiums or inside are rather the work of groups of ultra supporters, very committed to supporting their club but also in opposition to the opposing team and supporters, which can lead to Conflicts”deciphers Nicolas Hourcadesociologist specializing in supporters.
:quality(50)/2023/12/01/000-33xr8vq-656a5e0ed0505756918372.jpg)
Certain events around the field are also on the increase, as reported by the DNLH, in particular intrusions on the lawn. “VSLike that, it doesn’t seem to present any risk, it’s often festive, they want to take a photo, they made a bet on social networks, they want a jersey. But one day or another, we will have someone who will come and attack a player.”, assures Thibaut Delaunay. During the last day of L2 last season, a Bordeaux supporter came to attack the Rodez scorer at the edge of the pitch.
By their intensity and their multiplication, the excesses were able to recall the dynamic of the hooligans, without it necessarily being their fault. “We are dealing with individuals who can adopt the codes of hooliganism, such as ultras who sometimes engage in acts of violence”noted the head of the National Division for the Fight against Hooliganism, Thibaut Delaunay, in an interview granted to The Team in September 2021. “But they go to the stadium and stay attached to their club. They are not hooligans as such.”
Various phenomena and explanations
Current violence in stadiums therefore emanates from different dynamics and responds to various logics. “The problem with the term ‘hooliganism’ is that it conflates very different facts: throwing firecrackers on the field, fighting between supporters near stadiums, organizing fights outside of any match, making Nazi salutes while platform, throwing a stone at a bus… It is important to distinguish the facts, because the explanations are not the same for everyone”explains Nicolas Hourcade.
Plural phenomena which open up so many avenues to try to explain this high level of tension in French football. They can come from a conflict between supporters and the club or from poor sporting results. For Dominique Bodin, brawls far from the stadiums respond more to the logic of identity. “What is at stake is the construction of individual and collective identities, which can have many foundations”he says. “They fight for sporting, historical, cultural reasons.”
“A football stadium is 40,000, 50,000, 60,000 people, it’s a city. In a city of this population, you have more or less violent people, delinquents, deviants. Why don’t you Wouldn’t there be the same representation in a sports arena?”
Dominique Bodin, professor of sociology at the IEP of Fontainebleauat franceinfo: sport
Some explanations also lean towards the organizational side. “When it happens in the immediate vicinity of the stadiums, as was the case for Olympique de Marseille, this reflects faults in the organization of security., says Dominique Bodin, who built a master’s degree to train security directors in collaboration with the Professional Football League. The capacity of public authorities to control crowds is also often singled out. “There is no habit of managing large fan movements”estimates Ronan Evain, general director of the Football Supporters Europe association.
Another explanation often put forward, but without yet a well-established link, is the pre-existence of high tension overall in society. “We are living in a time where there is a lot of anxiety. As the stadium is historically a place of evacuation of a certain number of tensions, it is possible that it particularly has this function in the current period, and that violent acts are a little more frequent than ten years ago”asks Nicolas Hourcade.
“We have to put into perspective the idea that it would go from bad to worse”
Recently, the context of the pandemic also had to be considered. The 2021-2022 season was thus marked by numerous clashes in the stands, after the return of the public. “We could explain it by the excitement of returning to the stadiums and the loss of habit in managing matches”continues the sociologist. “After a lull, incidents seem more frequent this season, but it is difficult to have reliable indicators to measure progress.”
Nowadays, we must also take into account the impact of social networks in disseminating these acts to as many people as possible. “Social networks are not a cause of incidents. For example, attacks between supporters are due to rivalries between groups. On the other hand, mobile phones and social networks make visible some of them which went unnoticed fifteen or twenty years ago because there were no images”, analyzes Nicolas Hourcade.
But can we really talk about a resurgence? According to specialists on the subject, violence has in fact always existed. “There is nothing very new. The pandemic had made us forget that incidents could occur”tempers Dominique Bodin. The question of return also depends on the comparison period. “We have to put into perspective the idea that things would go from bad to worse. Thirty years ago, the violence was significant, particularly around PSG. The current situation is not worse, but it is a little different. The violence affects now more clubs because the rivalries are more numerous and lasting over time. And these last few weeks have been marked by several serious events.”recalls Nicolas Hourcade.
For him, the perception of these acts has also changed. “The current incidents are all the more shocking as we have been fighting against hooliganism for years and we would like to have more convincing results.”