“A matter of life and death” in football
Violent death of a fan shocks France
December 3, 2023, 11:02 a.m
When the OGC Nice fans arrived in Nantes, they were brutally attacked. A 31-year-old man dies in the clashes, apparently after a knife attack. The perpetrator turns himself in to the police. Nantes coach Jocelyn Gourvennec is stunned.
The violent death of a fan causes consternation in French football. Before the first division game between FC Nantes and OGC Nice, there were clashes in which a supporter of the host team was killed, the public prosecutor’s office said. Shortly before 8 p.m., vehicles transporting Nice fans were attacked by FC Nantes supporters, prosecutor Renaud Gaudeul said, according to AFP. A 31-year-old man died: “Despite the rapid intervention of the emergency services, the man could not be saved.”
A driver from the VTC transport service was taken into custody early on Sunday morning. The public prosecutor in Nantes said he turned himself in to the police at 4:30 a.m. She has now initiated proceedings for intentional homicide, and witness interviews took place during the night.
According to initial forensic investigations, the FC Nantes fan “suffered an injury to his back”, which may have been inflicted by a bladed weapon. The autopsy should provide more precise information. “I can’t understand it,” said Nantes coach Jocelyn Gourvennec: “You go to a football game, sometimes with your family, and it’s a matter of life and death. It’s unimaginable.”
The incident in Nantes follows a series of violent clashes in French football. Last Sunday, two Stade Brest supporters were slightly injured when the fan bus was attacked in Montpellier. Around the game, the police also had to use tear gas against hundreds of violent people. At the end of October, Olympique Lyon’s team bus was attacked before the away game in Marseille, injuring Lyon coach Fabio Grosso and his assistant Raffaele Longo, among others.