For any football lover, Beaujoire still sounds like a lair apart. The playing field of FC Nantes has not been festive in recent years with the random results of the Canaries, now confined to supporting roles in Ligue 1. This does not prevent you from feeling a great atmosphere there, carried by a Brigade Loire which has made Marcel-Saupin’s successor one of the most beautiful atmospheres in France.
But the context is more and more hostile and stormy at FC Nantes. The management has decided to wage war on its own supporters with the desire to chase the equipment (sound system, tarpaulins) from the Nantes ultras. The new director of security, David Amaré, tried to impose his authority by tracking down the slightest smoke in the bays of Beaujoire, but the supporters rebelled. A surreal scene then took place during Nantes-Marseille on Friday evening: we saw the stewards themselves being escorted by the supporters out of the stand where the Loire Brigade takes place.
If it were only that, we would still have written this column, emphasizing once again the problematic management of ultras in France, but on Friday evening, unfortunately, a new threshold of stupidity was reached. In the stands of La Beaujoire, a six-year-old boy wearing an OM jersey was targeted by Nantes supporters. His father, who defended him, suffered a heart attack, and the stewards did not come to his aid, considering that it was not their responsibility in this area of ??the stadium…
My 6 year old son had his first match in a French stadium where his father almost died defending his family. Thanks to the incompetent stewards who didn’t do anything because it wasn’t their grandstand!! Thank you to the emergency physicians who saved my husband from 2 stoppages.
This episode is reminiscent of another, that of little Kenzo who was taken to task with his family during a trip to Ajaccio last June. Even the youngest are no longer safe in 2023 in our stadiums, and this is becoming more than worrying. Much more than a few smoke bombs and tarpaulins, you will agree.
This beginning of the season is generally marked by several notable incidents involving the supporters: Bordeaux residents have had garden furniture on their heads in Corsica while the Stéphanois have found nothing better to do than fight each other on the side of Rodez. As prefectural bans multiply for random reasons and authorized trips become increasingly rare, some fans seem to feel inspired to score an own goal, which makes it even more difficult to find a pitch. ‘agreement.
After the fiasco of the 2022 Champions League final in Saint-Denis and with a view to the Olympic Games in Paris in less than a year, the authorities are under pressure and want to avoid any type of slippage, even if they no longer know how to manage the security of a sporting event. The measures taken are more and more restrictive, and it is all the supporters who pay dearly for it, while serious incidents remain rare. We can only regret this path taken for French football and its enthusiasts.
