Cyrille de La Morinerie, edited by Gauthier Delomez / Photo credits: LOIC VENANCE / AFP 06:50, 05 December 2023

On the sidelines of the Ligue 1 match between Nantes and Nice on Saturday evening, a Nantes fan was killed in clashes before the match. Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra wants to generalise the ban on fan travel during high-risk matches, but the idea is divisive among football specialists.

The Lyon bus was stoned before OM-OL, clashes between supporters on the sidelines of Ajaccio-Bordeaux, and recently the death three days ago of a Nantes fan during clashes before the Nantes-Nice match... Violence is once again inviting itself into the world of French football, with the common point being the presence of opposing fans. To avoid a new tragedy, Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra suggests generalising the ban on fan travel during high-risk matches.

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"You don't go to a game to experience death"

A radical but necessary measure according to the former Secretary of State for Sport, Thierry Braillard. "You don't go to a football match to experience death," he told Europe 1 radio. "If it has to come to this point for them (violent supporters) to understand the seriousness of the situation, I think it should be done," said the former secretary of state during François Hollande's five-year term.

Dominique Bodin, a specialist in supporterism, is not in favour of banning all football fans. "Today, the fans travel in an organised way. The day we ban everything, they will move alone and things will be much more dangerous because these fans will find themselves anywhere in the stadium, and out of control," he told Europe 1 radio.

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However, the president of the Professional Football League (LFP), Vincent Labrune, is of the same opinion as the Minister of Sport: he also wants to ban the travel of fans.