Faced with the phenomena of violence, in and outside French football stadiums, the Minister of Sports and the Olympic Games, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, called, Monday March 11, for the emergence of a “French model for football without violence, without deviance”. Speaking at the introduction of a conference in the Senate on the future of supporterism, which brought together the main actors concerned by the question – State, clubs, federation, league and supporters – the minister insisted on the idea, consensual within the authorities, to favor individual sanctions, by increasing their number and their firmness, and on the structuring of dialogue in the work of anticipation and prevention of possible violence.
“After a phase of true-false moratorium on the travel of supporters, we wanted there to be a real collective start through the reaffirmation of the roles and responsibilities of each person,” explained the minister, alluding to recent bans and emergency measures taken after the death, on December 2, 2023, of a Nantes supporter on the sidelines of a match against Nice at La Beaujoire. Collective sanctions were considered counterproductive and unfair by the National Supporters Association, the clubs and the Professional Football League (LFP).
With a view to clarifying roles and responsibilities, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra announced the upcoming signing of an agreement between the LFP and the State – through its ministries of the interior, justice and sports. “Responsibility is distributed geographically – within the stadium, within its perimeter or on its periphery”, underlined Arnaud Rouger, general director of the LFP, “but [it] is also given in temporality”. The League thus works ahead of the meetings, in consultation with the National Division for the Fight against Hooliganism, on the calendar of meetings, the supervision of journeys and their possible intersections.
Calmness around the stadiums
Taking up the avenues mentioned at the end of the 12th meeting of the National Supporterism Authority, on December 18, 2023, the Minister of Sports hoped that the areas developed would be discussed collectively so that a “global and effective response” emerges. before the end of the season.” “This global response must also be developed for amateur rugby and football, which have their own difficulties,” she added, referring to the incidents which marred the U14 rugby post-match in Massy, Saturday March 9th.
The LFP and some club representatives welcomed the concrete initiatives taken on “sea serpent” subjects, in the words of Arnaud Rouger. The experiments around standing stands, pyrotechnics, the development of reference police officers and reference supporters were welcomed. Initiatives which seem, for all these authorities, the key to a successful dialogue upstream and calm around the stadiums, where the reception of the police has been criticized, in particular by the sociologist Nicolas Hourcade. The Champions League final fiasco between Real Madrid and Liverpool at the Stade de France was on everyone’s minds, as France prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Hélène Schrub, the only woman in charge of a Ligue 1 club, defended the educational approach to preventing the fight against discrimination. Its FC Metz has set up regular meetings between public authorities, supporters associations and associations fighting homophobia, all concerned about their image. The general director of the Lorraine club deemed this effort useful, given the “long road” to changing mentalities and the difficulty of applying individual sanctions in cases of racist or homophobic chants. Recalling that the “fight against violence and discrimination are at the heart of [her] fight for sport”, the minister insisted on the place of women and families in sports arenas.