How France will tackle spike in football hooliganism
Football matches in France will be called off definitively if a player or official is injured by a projectile thrown from the stands, the government has said.
Abandoning games one of a series of measures announced after meetings between Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin and French football chiefs in the wake of a
spate of incidents in the French league this season.
The government decided action needed to be taken after a match between Lyon and Marseille on November 21st was brought to a halt when Marseille skipper Dimitri Payet was hit by a plastic bottle thrown from the stands.
"If a referee or a player is injured by a projectile thrown from the stands the match will be automatically abandoned," the ministries of the interior, justice and sports said in a joint statement.
The authorities took over two hours to reach a decision to call off the November 21st match - it will be replayed behind closed doors.
The government says that is too long to deliberate and that decisions over matches that are halted for non-sporting reasons should be reached in no longer than 30 minutes by a group that does not include the presidents of the football clubs concerned.
The call to prohibit the presidents from the decision-making process comes after Jean-Michel Aulas, Lyon president, received a five-match ban on Wednesday over his behaviour regarding whether the Lyon-Marseille match should resume.
"There will be a clear dividing line regarding the competence of the match referee and the police over the stopping of matches," the ministerial statement said.
"A clearly thought out, unified and rapid decision must be reached."
In addition, both the sale of plastic bottles on site and bringing them into the stadium will be barred "by July 1, 2022, at the latest".
The ministerial troika - Darmanin was assisted by Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu and Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti - decided that the measures in place to bar supporters from stadiums were sufficient, but could be "better applied".
Ligue 1 and tier two clubs must also have security measures in place from the 2022-23 season against projectiles being thrown, which the regional police chief can order them to install for particular matches.
No security net was in place at Lyon's stadium nor at matches involving Marseille at Montpellier and Nice in August, when their players were targeted with projectiles.
Payet for his part had criticised the government and football authorities on Wednesday in an op-ed piece published by French daily Le Monde.
"I am surprised that the actors - the government, la Ligue, the clubs - do not assume a little more responsibility," he wrote, calling it "a collective abrogation of duty."
Comments
See Also
Abandoning games one of a series of measures announced after meetings between Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin and French football chiefs in the wake of a
spate of incidents in the French league this season.
The government decided action needed to be taken after a match between Lyon and Marseille on November 21st was brought to a halt when Marseille skipper Dimitri Payet was hit by a plastic bottle thrown from the stands.
"If a referee or a player is injured by a projectile thrown from the stands the match will be automatically abandoned," the ministries of the interior, justice and sports said in a joint statement.
The authorities took over two hours to reach a decision to call off the November 21st match - it will be replayed behind closed doors.
The government says that is too long to deliberate and that decisions over matches that are halted for non-sporting reasons should be reached in no longer than 30 minutes by a group that does not include the presidents of the football clubs concerned.
The call to prohibit the presidents from the decision-making process comes after Jean-Michel Aulas, Lyon president, received a five-match ban on Wednesday over his behaviour regarding whether the Lyon-Marseille match should resume.
"There will be a clear dividing line regarding the competence of the match referee and the police over the stopping of matches," the ministerial statement said.
"A clearly thought out, unified and rapid decision must be reached."
In addition, both the sale of plastic bottles on site and bringing them into the stadium will be barred "by July 1, 2022, at the latest".
The ministerial troika - Darmanin was assisted by Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu and Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti - decided that the measures in place to bar supporters from stadiums were sufficient, but could be "better applied".
Ligue 1 and tier two clubs must also have security measures in place from the 2022-23 season against projectiles being thrown, which the regional police chief can order them to install for particular matches.
No security net was in place at Lyon's stadium nor at matches involving Marseille at Montpellier and Nice in August, when their players were targeted with projectiles.
Payet for his part had criticised the government and football authorities on Wednesday in an op-ed piece published by French daily Le Monde.
"I am surprised that the actors - the government, la Ligue, the clubs - do not assume a little more responsibility," he wrote, calling it "a collective abrogation of duty."
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.