Around twenty female supporters of AS Saint-Etienne (ASSE) complained of intrusive searches during their trip to Monaco last Saturday for the first day of Ligue 1, the club denounced, which contacted the Monegasque authorities.
“We have collected around twenty concordant testimonies”Thomas Granger, the club’s communications director, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Friday, adding that some of it could be used by the courts.
In a message published the day after the match on X, an Internet user described in particular: “more than thorough palpation of private parts, hands in panties and bras for some women…”, during access controls at the Louis-II stadium, where the match was taking place.
According to ASSE, a majority of testimonies come from women who mention similar gestures and incriminate at least one policewoman. Thomas Granger said that the club has started “in connection with AS Monaco” and has “asked the Monaco police to keep the video surveillance images”. “For the time being, ASSE has not constituted a civil party but it will do so if women file a complaint or if proceedings are initiated”he added.
Several sources told AFP that no complaints had been filed at this stage. AS Monaco said it had been informed by AS Saint-Etienne of the existence of these testimonies. “We have forwarded this information to public safety.”added the club, assuring that it had “always attached particular importance to hospitality”Contacted by AFP, the Monaco prosecutor’s office could not be reached immediately.