An OM supporter attacked by Nantes fans suffered a heart attack in the stands on Friday during the Nantes-Marseille match, an act condemned by the two clubs on Sunday and which will give rise to a complaint according to FC Nantes . Coming with their 6-year-old son who was wearing an OM jersey, the couple were attacked during the match by receiving “spitting, insults, beers thrown in the face”, detailed on Saturday on X Alicia Mahé, the victim’s wife , a story confirmed by several journalists present nearby.
“Surge of Violence”
Suffering from a “heart attack” in the stands, the victim was then taken care of by the emergency services, said Alicia Mahé, who also criticized the late reaction of the security staff to intervene: “thank you to the incompetent stewards who did not did nothing because it was not their platform”.
When Ismaïla Sarr opened the score, “we showed that we were happy. It was then that we suffered an outpouring of violence from certain individuals who were in the stands. ‘next to it, the Loire tribune,’ she told BFMTV on Sunday. Her husband then fell ill shortly before half-time and was “evacuated by ambulance”, she added, pointing out that “some supporters even took selfies in front of the ambulance in which my husband was being resuscitated.”
Yesterday was my 6 year old son’s first game at La Beaujoire and not everything went well. Our fault: being an OM supporter and letting him wear his jersey for the match.
We were attacked during the match: spitting, insults, beers thrown in the face…— Alicia Mahé (@AliciaMahe) September 2, 2023
The couple and their child were installed in the Océane tribune, near the Loire tribune, where the Nantes ultras sit. Stewards were only deployed along the gates of the Loire stand at the start of the second period, a journalist present on the spot confirmed to AFP.
Support
FC Nantes told AFP on Sunday that it condemned “in the strongest terms the unacceptable violence committed against an OM supporter family during the Nantes-Marseille match on Friday evening”. The club adds “that a complaint will be filed on Monday” after analysis of CCTV images. Olympique de Marseille “strongly condemns these intolerable actions”, reacted to AFP the club, showing “its support and solidarity” to the family. “The Disciplinary Committee will take up the case,” said the Professional Football League (LFP).
The incident at the La Beaujoire stadium is part of a conflict between the Nantes ultras and the club’s new safety and security director, David Amaré, who wants to prevent the use of smoke bombs in the stadium, which led to the FC Nantes recurrent financial sanctions.
Before the match against Marseille, the company Event Safety, which has been managing the Loire stand since this summer, had decided to withdraw from the stadium, criticizing the “dangerous” and “unreasonable” instructions from the Nantes club about the prohibition of animation material for ultras. The latter were finally able to return smoothly and with their entertainment equipment to the stadium, near which there were many security agents and CRS.