On Thursday evening, the night before the French Cup final between RC Lens and OGC Nice at the Stade de France (which Lens subsequently won 3-1), scenes of violence erupted in Paris around the Canal Saint-Martin between supporters of Paris Saint-Germain and Nice. L’Equipe recounts the incidents between hooligans and their consequences.
“Some were shouting ‘We’re going to kill you, we’re going to kill you.'”
“Initially seated at the ‘Cork and Craven,’ located a little further down at number 70 Quai de Jemmapes, the Nice hooligans then went outside to meet up with their Parisian counterparts, ready for a fight around 11:30 p.m.
The difference in numbers—150 Nice supporters accompanied by fans from Lille, Nancy, or Germany (Saarbrücken), with whom they have close ties, versus about fifty Parisians—led to a manhunt.” After crossing the canal at the Rue de Lancry, the hooligans converged on Square Villemin, stopping just before it, in front of “L’Atmosphère,” one of the few establishments still open shortly before midnight.
While residents, accustomed to the noise in the neighborhood, were accustomed to the clashes, many peeped outside when they heard the uproar. “I thought there was a fight. But it was more like a riot. Some were shouting, ‘We’re going to kill you, we’re going to kill you.’ I was stunned, I’d never seen anything like it,” described Saphia, a neighbor.
“65 individuals were taken into custody”
The police finally intervened, and 65 individuals were taken into custody (four minors), while six people were injured, one seriously. “
As for the violence, even if there is a link to football, since these people present themselves as club supporters, it’s easy to say that the spirit of the sport has been completely forgotten here. PSG and Nice are being used as a pretext to create camps and incite violence. It’s sad to see things come to this and disrupt an entire neighborhood. It’s a senseless act that’s hard to shake off and that won’t help football’s image.
Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee that such scenes will stop anytime soon, and football will continue to be used as a pretext. This is pushing the authorities to restrict travel, even if it’s unfair to the true fans, who are genuinely there for the game.”
