The France team is entering Euro 2020, postponed to 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Blues play against Germany this Tuesday evening at 9 p.m. A sporting but also popular and festive event. Because who says match of the Blues often says meeting between friends, in a bar or at home, in order to watch the match, to support one of the favorite teams of the competition, carried in particular by Karim Benzema or Kylian Mbappé.
Even if the Covid-19 continues to decline in most European countries, such as in France, the coronavirus will still have a strong impact on the Euro. Despite the relaxation, which took place last Wednesday, of the health rules put in place to fight against the pandemic, it will still be difficult this Tuesday for French supporters to gather in large numbers to attend the great debut of the world champions, or to all the less to continue the evening beyond the end of the meeting. L’Express takes stock of what can or cannot be done this Tuesday evening.
There will be no exemption from the curfew in France to follow, in a bar or on a terrace, the entry into the running in the Euro des Bleus. While the curfew will be in effect from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. until June 29, and since June 9, restaurants and bars can welcome the public at 100% of the capacity of their outdoor terraces, and 50 % indoors, within the limits of a maximum of six at the table, the Ministry of the Interior argued on Monday that there would be “no tolerance (concerning the curfew) because before the final stages there is no there is no extra time and therefore the matches should end before 11 p.m.
In Marseille, for the broadcasting of matches on the terraces of bars, the prefecture has authorized them under conditions. On its Facebook page, the Union of Trades and Hotel Industries of Bouches-du-Rhône details these conditions: “table service, six per table, barrier gestures respected, terrace empty at 11 p.m., screen directed towards the inside (to prevent non-customers from watching the match from the street).”
In Paris, many bars and restaurants have planned to offer the France-Germany shock to their customers indoors, which suggests concentrations that are not compatible with the gauges in force and the rules of social distancing. The Ministry of the Interior recalls that “the rules of distancing as well as the ban on undeclared public gatherings of more than 10 people remain of course in force”.
In a telegram sent to the prefects on Monday, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, however, asked on Monday “the police to show particular leniency” when checking “people who would return home after watching the game away from home”. “Leniency will only apply to allow you to return home after the match. It cannot be a pretext to be able to prolong the evening in bars or on the public highway”, warns the Ministry of the Interior . Gérald Darmanin warns however that “any behavior endangering the life of others must be particularly sanctioned”.
“If you are checked at 11:15 p.m. on public transport, near your home, there will be no problem”, thus assures BFMTV Laëtitia Vallar, spokesperson for the Paris police headquarters, who will deploy 850 police this Tuesday evening. “We will intervene if people gather, do not respect barrier gestures, do not wear the mask”, she adds.
A limited number of fan zones, the usual meeting place for the public during a major tournament, will also be open, at least until June 29. According to the protocol communicated by the Ministry of National Education, Youth and Sports, “only fan zones with seated spectators can be set up until June 29, in compliance with the gauge and sanitary measures. prescribed,” the Interior Ministry said.
The decision to open a fan zone is the responsibility of the town halls, which must meet the health specifications established by the protocol, but it is also subject to obtaining prefectural authorization. Under these conditions, very few of them have taken the plunge. In Bron, a neighboring town of Lyon, a fan zone with a capacity of 900 places will open its doors on Tuesday and it will be accessible by reservation, explained the town hall. Monday morning, there were still 530 places left to attend the France-Germany match and 799 places for the Portugal-France meeting on June 23.
In Lille, Mayor Martine Aubry (PS) is “in favor of setting up a fan zone if it can be done in accordance with the rules”, according to the communication from the City. “The City and the European Metropolis of Lille are looking if it is possible for the last three matches, semi-finals and final, in July, because the health protocol will be more open” than in June, we explain. The town hall rules out installing one in June, because the measures of the health protocol for this month “are hard to put in place”.
Same policy in Besançon, where the town hall “plans to organize the broadcasts of the semi-finals (July 6 or 7) and the final on July 11, at the Léo-Lagrange Stadium (…) with a gauge of people still to delimit and the obligation of the ‘sanitary pass’ to access it”, indicates the city in a press release. In Marseille, there shouldn’t be a fan zone in June, and it’s not guaranteed that there will be in July either.
In Paris, where gatherings of young revelers were dispersed by police over the weekend, there will be no fan zones in June either and the installation of terrace TV screens has been banned by the town hall .
