The Groupama Stadium, located in the town of Décines-Charpieu and close to that of Meyzieu, near Lyon, hosts the Turin OL-Juventus match in the knockout stages of the Champions League on Wednesday. But the arrival of 3,000 Italian supporters, in the midst of a coronavirus epidemic in Italy, made the mayor of Meyzieu, Christophe Quiniou, jump up.

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Will the Olympique Lyonnais - Juventus match take place? The mayors of Meyzieu and Décines-Charpieu, where the Groupama Stadium, which is to host this round of the first leg of the Champions League, have asked the authorities to ban the arrival of Italian supporters due to the epidemic of coronavirus in Italy, "in the name of the precautionary principle". Christophe Quiniou, the mayor of Meyzieu, believes on Europe 1 that letting them come "is not reasonable".

Juventus Turin, it announced Tuesday that there were no restrictions on the movement of its supporters. "It seems to me that this decision is irresponsible. At a time when we do not know the rate of spread of the virus and there are fears about its spread on French territory, letting 3,000 supporters come is not reasonable ", insists Christophe Quiniou.

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"Left alone by the state"

The new Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, said on RTL on Tuesday that "no scientific and medical argument" required to "stop collective events" such as the match OL-Juventus, and the Turin club for its part assured in a statement that "the French authorities and Olympique Lyonnais say that on Wednesday, fans who follow Juventus will be able to attend the match without problem. No particular restrictions are planned for the tifosi bianconeri".

So many words unacceptable to the mayor. "The minister said the opposite two days ago! And the people around the stadium are very worried. They ask for measures to be taken, and tell us that they are afraid that Italians will spread this coronavirus without control. ", recalls Christophe Quiniou, who regrets being" left alone "by the State. "Me, I cannot afford to take measures in my commune which is right next to the stadium. All I can do is try to dissuade contacts with all these supporters as much as possible."

The latest official report shows 283 cases of new coronavirus in Italy, where seven people died from the disease. Turin is located in the Piedmont region, where six cases have been identified.