Thirty years to the day after the Furiani disaster, which left 19 dead and more than 2,300 injured, a minute of silence will be observed Thursday at the Vélodrome stadium in Marseille before the OM-Feyenoord Rotterdam match in the semi-final second leg of the Europa League Conference . “As soon as the date of May 5 was known and we qualified, it was obvious for us to ask UEFA to mark this match with a commemorative imprint”, explained Jacques Cardoze, director of the communication from OM, during a press conference organized on Tuesday by the club and the Collectif des Victimes de Furiani.
Minute of silence and black armbands
“UEFA has accepted the principle of a minute’s silence. The players will wear a black armband, a text will be read by the announcer and messages will be broadcast on the giant screens,” added Mr. Cardoze.
On October 14, 2021, a law was adopted guaranteeing that no professional football match will now be played in France on May 5, the anniversary date of the tragedy. But this law only concerns national competitions. “Faced with this complexity, we wanted to do everything so that the spectators present and the television viewers remember what happened on May 5. Especially since it is an OM match, which is not insignificant,” said Mr. Cardoze. On May 5, 1992, the day when 19 people died and 2,357 were injured in the collapse of a stand at the Furiani stadium in Bastia, it was indeed a Coupe de France semi-final between OM and the Corsican club which was to be contested.
“Appalling” experience and “touching” gesture
“We weren’t asking for anything, we didn’t want to overbid, but we are satisfied that UEFA heard OM’s request,” commented Didier Grassi, journalist, injured during the match. collapse of the tribune and member of the Collective. “It is a gesture that touches us. There will certainly be a match on May 5, but with things that will remind us that it is a date that marked Corsica, Marseille and all of French football”, a- he added.
Present at the press conference on Wednesday, former OM striker Daniel Xuereb, who was on the match sheet on May 5, 1992, told him about the “darkest moment” of his career. “I saw terrible things, he testified. Coming to this tragedy for a few more francs, it’s serious. I hope not to see that again in a stadium. It was painful to resume the football after that date”.