Europe 1 with AFP: Credits: Jeff PACHOUD / AFP 12:36 p.m., December 04, 2023

On Saturday evening, Maxime, a Nantes supporter, was fatally injured during an altercation that took place just before the FC Nantes-OGC Nice football match. For Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, it is time to act to put an end to the upsurge in violence surrounding French football.

Two days after the death of a Nantes fan before a match against Nice in Ligue 1, Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra said on Monday that it was preferable "for the moment to stop on the movement of supporters" in the event of a risky match. "We can't go on like this in football. When the match presents a risk, we must for the moment stop on the movement of supporters, "said the minister, asked about the need to prevent the arrival of opposing fans during the matches, at the microphone of France Inter.

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Repeated incidents

Orders are already regularly issued for so-called high-risk matches. The Prefecture of Bouches-du-Rhône has banned the arrival of Lyon fans in Marseille for the Ligue 1 match to be played on Tuesday. Initially scheduled for 29 October, this match did not start due to the stoned throwing of the bus transporting the OL players to the Stade Vélodrome, which caused an injury to the face of former Lyon coach Fabio Grosso. Recently, Lille fans were unable to travel to Marseille to attend the match on November 4, and Marseille fans were unable to go to Nice to support OM on October 21.

There have been other incidents in French football this season. The latest example to date, on Saturday evening in Nantes, an hour before the start of the match counting for the 14th day of the championship, a 31-year-old man was killed during an altercation, when several VTC vehicles carrying Nice supporters were attacked by Nantes supporters. A VTC driver was taken into custody on Sunday.

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"A global response"

Questioned at the microphone of France Inter, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra answered "with caution" on this specific case, because "it is now necessary that the prosecutor establishes the facts to the end". But in the face of this new episode of violence, "we need a global initiative, a global response and radical measures," she said. "It's just not possible that we have security forces that are so busy, property destroyed, buses stoned, people injured, now one dead," she said, "Basta, that's enough."

Just over a week ago, two Brest fans suffered minor injuries from shards of glass when their bus was targeted by projectiles after a win in Montpellier. Earlier this season, the Montpellier-Clermont match was stopped after a firecracker exploded near Clermont-Ferrand goalkeeper Mory Diaw.