Sunday evening shortly before 10 p.m. The captain of AJ Auxerre Birama Touré succeeds the last shot on goal, synonymous with a rise in the elite but also with a descent into Ligue 2 for AS Saint-Etienne. In the aftermath, thousands of angry supporters invade the field and rush towards the players, who are quickly exfiltrated to the locker rooms, before throwing smoke bombs towards the presidential stand.
A scene of chaos visible in just a few seconds, once again revealing a deplorable image of French football after a season marked by numerous incidents in the stands. “After the match, I freaked out because I took tear gas canisters, like my players, commented Auxerre coach Jean-Marc Furlan. We counted ourselves to find out if there were any missing. These incidents are very sad.” The intervention of the police to disperse the crowd quickly calmed a situation that could have become dramatic.
The clashes continued outside the stadium, requiring the use of tear gas and a water launcher, for a toll of 14 minor injuries among the police and 17 on the supporters’ side. The prefect of the Loire, Catherine Séguin, quickly condemned “these unacceptable, irresponsible and unworthy acts” caused by “a minority of individuals claiming to be supporters of ASSE, but who are quite simply thugs”.
On the side of the presidents of the Saint-Etienne club, Bernard Caïazzo and Roland Romeyer, eager to sell the club of the Greens for months, no sound, no reaction, apart from a press release evoking the descent of the club after 18 consecutive seasons in the ‘elite. With a deplorable image for this mythical institution of French football, ten times champion of France and finalist of the Cup of champion clubs in 1976 with Larqué, Revelli, Rocheteau or Curkovic.
The height of stupidity, as a reminder, AS Saint-Etienne had already been sanctioned by the Professional Football League with a match behind closed doors after… certain supporters threw smoke bombs against Monaco on April 23.
This new disastrous sequence for French football, which has no connection with what happened twenty-four hours earlier at the Stade de France during the Champions League final, tarnishes the situation a little more. image of a Ligue 1 unable to respond to the problems of some of its supporters this season. Whether in Nice, Angers, Lens, Marseille, Lyon or Bordeaux, examples of excesses, violence or invasions of the field have continued to pollute the 2021-2022 financial year.
“We have the firm determination to initiate a joint working approach between the Ministries of Sport, Justice and the Interior on this subject with a desire for firmness and dialogue with the associations of supporters, plants Amélie Oudéa-Castéra , who inherits this explosive record after succeeding Roxana Maracineanu. We must reactivate this reflection to ensure that football, which unleashes passions, does not unleash excesses. Words that are now waiting for only one thing: strong actions and real progress on a subject that has been neglected for too long by the political class.
