Has football really changed? Since the health crisis, the return of Ligue 1 to the various stadiums in France has not been without incident. On October 29, the meeting between OM and OL was canceled shortly before kick-off. The reason ? The Gones bus was stoned by Marseille supporters, despite the presence of 500 police officers. Images of coach Fabio Grosso bleeding, injured by shards of glass, went around the world. Unfortunately, this is not the only incident to occur during the 2023/2024 season, which only started in mid-August. Last September, homophobic chants were heard in the Auteuil stand at the Parc des Princes during the Clasico between PSG and OM.
But how can such acts happen today in sports competitions? The president of the French Football Federation (FFF), Philippe Diallo, guest of the show The studio of legends, reacted to Jacques Vendroux’s microphone. The strong man of French football looks back on these incidents which taint Ligue 1.
“The only response is a criminal response”
“When we see this, we are both disgusted and a little ashamed.” These are the words that Philippe Diallo first reacted to the incidents that occurred at the Vélodrome. For him, the people who stoned the various buses during the Olympico between Marseille and Lyon are thugs. “The only response is a criminal response. This is why football, justice and police, we absolutely must join forces to have the best possible collaboration to identify these thugs and condemn them,” insists the president of the FFF.
For his part, Gérald Darmanin reacted to these events by pointing the finger at the responsibility of the clubs. According to the Minister of the Interior, there was no failure by the police in the management of these incidents. “These events took place outside the stadium and it is not up to football to resolve safety problems on public roads,” Philippe Diallo initially responds to Jacques Vendroux’s microphone. “But nevertheless, these incidents took place during a football match and therefore, from this point of view, it means that we must take some responsibility for these events. But we do not will not achieve it alone,” admits the president of the FFF.
A complex identification
For him, the police and the justice system must, with the Federation, form an alliance to eradicate these problems. “Other countries have arrived there,” assures Phillipe Diallo. The latter refers to England which experienced extremely serious problems in the 1980s. For five years, English clubs were banned from the European Cup. The league has put in place a certain number of measures, notably in terms of sanctions and stadium bans, sometimes for life, for a large number of supporters. “I think that in France, we need to have this reinforced collaboration to try to ensure that these events do not happen again,” said the French football president.
Questioned by Jacques Vendroux on the possibility of excluding clubs from football competitions, Philippe Diallo remains reserved. “I am, in principle, against all collective sanctions. I think that we must succeed in identifying. That is why it is complex, because we must, not only, identify the perpetrators of trouble and then, then, we need proof of their intervention”, he insists at the microphone of Europe 1. Sometimes, the video images are not enough because there is a blur, a shadow, a hood or a scarf which makes it difficult to identify. “But I would say that it is really with regard to these individuals and with regard to individual sanctions that we must really place the emphasis,” emphasizes Philippe Diallo.