For more than 25 years, the debate has been recurrent within French football. On May 5, 1992, 18 people died and 2,300 others were injured at the Furiani stadium following the collapse of part of a temporary stand installed for the semi-final of the Coupe de France between Bastia and OM. Since then, the collective of victims and their families have called for a ban on matches on May 5 and criticized the League and the Federation, which are reluctant to this idea.
A turning point could take place Thursday, because the debate will become political. For the first time, a bill, brought by the deputy of Haute-Corse Michel Castellani in order to "freeze the matches" on this date, will be discussed in the National Assembly. Josepha Giudicelli, president of the "Collective of the victims of May 5, 1992", will attend the debate. She explains to 20 Minutes what she expects.
With what hope are you meeting Thursday in Paris for the debate around this bill?
We are hopeful because the first step was taken on February 5. The Cultural Affairs Committee of the National Assembly [before discussion in the National Assembly, draft laws and proposals are systematically examined in committee] gave a favorable opinion, unanimously. It is a great satisfaction because it means that this subject goes beyond political borders. Suddenly, there should not normally be any bad surprise Thursday, but there is a lobbying which was set up on behalf of the authorities of football so that this law does not pass. We hope that the vote will follow the opinion of the committee.
Your goal is that there is no match being played on May 5, whatever the day, right?
Yes, and we specify that we only target professional matches, not amateur matches. It's been almost eight years since we started this fight again. For us, for the commemorations to be made in due form, there must not be a match on May 5. We are trying to get the football authorities to accept this request, but we run up against a wall. They don't want to know anything, and put forward arguments that don't hold water. The only times we move forward is when politics has interfered in sports. It's unfortunate that things are going like this, but for now there is no other choice.
It was decided in 2015 that no match would take place on May 5 if it fell on a Saturday…
Yes, it was a first step, when Thierry Braillard was Secretary of State for Sports. A commemorative plaque was also placed at the ministry [in March 2016]. But why only when May 5 falls on a Saturday? That is incomprehensible to us.
Furiani drama: The government proposes that there be no more matches on Saturday May 5 http://t.co/fVfjiRpqFe
- 20 Minutes Sport (@ 20minutesSport) June 16, 2015When you say you hit a wall, who are you talking about?
From the LFP (Professional Football League) and the FFF (French Football Federation). They put forward problems of organization and calendar, that it is very complicated for them to freeze a date. But we saw with the "Yellow Vests" for example that it could have been done almost overnight, or when the weather conditions were not good, too. These are arguments that we cannot hear.
Do you have contacts with these bodies?
Lately, we met Nathalie Boy de la Tour, we found her to listen, open, but in the end she doesn't want to do anything. The most painful thing is that the authorities think that they know better than us what is best to remember. Since 1992, they have done nothing and today they will say that to commemorate, it is better to play. No. We are the victims, and we tell you that we need this day.
The Minister of Sports said last year that she had no opinion on the subject, which had caused much talk. Do you hope to be able to speak to him on Thursday?
After this famous phrase, she called me directly and wanted to meet me. It was she who organized the last meeting to date, last September, with all the stakeholders [ministry, FFF and LFP]. We hadn't been able to find common ground. The Minister had asked the authorities to provide an argument explaining why it is difficult for them to freeze this date. They returned him at the start of the year [2020]. It's a very short argument, in which they just say it's complicated at the organizational level. That's all. As for the Minister, she has not yet positioned herself. I hope that on Thursday she will have an opinion. Positive or negative, moreover, but it must have a firm position.
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