How OM wants to regain control of its supporters

• After the incidents at the reception of Frankfurt, UEFA imposed a closed session on Olympique de Marseille against Sporting Portugal (6:45 p.m.) and the closure of the north bend against Tottenham (November 1).

• Aware of having "avoided a tragedy by little", two subscribers to the north bend are not surprised by this sanction even if they regret that an entire stadium is punished for the acts of a few.

• Following these incidents, OM suspended the subscription of 17 supporters and warns that there will be "many others", while planning to move the visitor parking lot.

“We narrowly avoided a tragedy, which could have marked the club and the Depé stand forever.

I saw with my own eyes the rocket go off in the Frankfurt grandstand and it could have caused one death and meant the end of the ultra movement in Marseille.

“Three weeks after the Champions League match between Olympique de Marseille and Eintracht Frankfurt (0-1), Daniel, a subscriber to the north bend of the Vélodrome stadium, is still very bitter, both from the seriousness of the incidents between the supporters of the two teams, then the sanction of UEFA to pronounce a closed session for the meeting against Sporting this Tuesday (6:45 p.m.), and the closure of the north bend for the reception of Tottenham (November 1).

"Honestly, I don't think UEFA has exaggerated, we take even more in terms of sanctions in Ligue 1. For example last season, I thought the stadium would be behind closed doors after the incidents against PAOK", consider supporting it.

Florent, another subscriber to the north bend, is not surprised by the UEFA sanction: “Things were thrown at the visitor parking lot, that must have made them twist and they started throwing smoke bombs towards us.

It was one-upmanship with fireworks.

I condemn these gestures, you know you are under threat from UEFA, you have to hunker down for a few games and not throw anything away.

»

Suspensions of subscriptions

The two supporters unanimously condemn these "individual behaviors which ultimately deprive 60,000 people of the stadium".

Faced with these new incidents, and sanctions from UEFA, Olympique de Marseille suspended the subscriptions of 17 supporters identified as having taken part in the incidents, as confirmed by the club to

after information from RTL . 

Sébastien Louis, professor of History-Geography and Sociology at the European School of Luxembourg and author of the book

, recalls that these suspensions of subscriptions have been possible since the Larrivé law of 2016. close a stand or an entire stadium.

But on the other hand the club is involved and there is not a neutral person who comes to judge these facts, ”he believes.

This proactive method by Olympique de Marseille "gives the impression that the club wants to satisfy public opinion and the authorities in a context where this type of incident is on the increase, a few days after those that occurred during the match between Nice and Cologne”, according to Sébastien Louis.

For him, OM must above all assert “a strong position and be clear”.

Move visitor parking

Long reluctant to pronounce this kind of sanction to avoid alienating its powerful groups of supporters, OM indeed seem to be changing policy little by little in recent months in the face of the multiplication of slippages.

At the club, we confirm that these suspensions of subscriptions have been in effect for "six months to a year with one to five suspensions of subscriptions per match", to show "the will of the club to do the job" without delegating the reminders of internal orders to the supporters themselves.

On this aspect, the decision taken internally to let the groups police after a Nazi salute seen during the trip to Tottenham on the 1st day of C1, did not send the desired signal to the authorities. 

 “Most of the time it's known people, who are not used to bends and whose groups complain.

They are not the first supporters and sometimes they are also people to whom we have lent subscriptions, or still others who have nothing to do there because they have forced the doors without a ticket, ”says the Olympian club.

To fight against this behavior, OM systematically files a complaint, which leads to a judicial inquiry.

“The judiciary has taken up the issue since the incidents of last season, justice is bumping up”, we are satisfied at OM, while warning that there will be “many other suspensions of subscription ".

To avoid arriving at a disguised Leproux plan that many supporters say they fear off, Olympique de Marseille is also working on another solution.

That of moving the visitor parking lot, currently close to the north bend, at the top of Ganay or Jean Bouin, "in the central part", with the "creation of a sealed zone with the installation of plexiglass to avoid the throwing of projectiles ".

Which should be effective after the cut linked to the World Cup, or next summer, according to our information.

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