Coupe de France: the Paris FC-Lyon meeting definitively stopped after incidents in the stands
It was 22:45 when the announcer of Paris FC Gilbert Azoulay entered the lawn to announce the final interruption of the match between Paris FC and Lyon, which had been interrupted for 45 minutes. At his side, the president of Paris FC, Pierre Ferracci has a serious face. For several minutes, he was in a meeting with the referee Jérémy Stinat, the delegate and Jean-Michel Aulas. According to several witnesses, the president of OL was livid.
The match between Paris FC (L2) and Lyon (L1) counting for the 32nd final will not resume after clashes between supporters at the start of the second period, when the score was 1-1. Arrived after the kick-off, because of the delayed TGV, the supporters of Lyon sadly distinguished themselves in the visitor parking lot during the break, by throwing smoke at Parisian supporters and by succeeding in crowd movements.
The CRS are asking and many supporters are found on the athletics track, and even the field. The stadiums, numbering 300 in the stadium but only 14 on the Lyon side to manage the 600 visitors, are quickly overwhelmed. The two teams which entered the field for the second half must return to the locker room. The match is interrupted. If calm returns after the announcer calls and everyone finds their platform, the tension remains high in the visitors’ parking, surrounded by CRS. Slightly injured people, who find it difficult to breathe because of the smoke from the smoke bombs are taken care of. Some Parisian supporters explain having had the fear of their lives.
Asked by the Parisian, a Lyon supporter present in the parking lot, the area reserved for Lyon supporters, tells the scene: “At one point it started to heat up at the top of the parking lot with people surrounded above. On the Lyonnais side, we were clearly dealing with guys who hadn’t come to see football, in balaclavas … They threw firecrackers and smoke and blew the plexiglass ”.
This OL supporter has chosen to leave the stadium. “I left, like a lot of people,” he continues. I’m sick of it, I’ve got my dose. We had the impression that it was groups of guys who came to fuck each other in the face. “
“Jean-Michel Aulas has a bunch of morons among his supporters”
Hugo, who had come for the first time with his sister to Charléty, is saddened. They were very close to the clashes. ” We were very scared. It started to insult one another between supporters, then smoke bombs were launched. We immediately left the podium. The party is ruined. It’s amazing to see such behavior in a stadium. There are problems every day. It’s terrible. ” Parisian supporters told us “they were afraid of their lives”. Some evoke “premeditated actions with hooded individuals”.
Just after the end of the meeting, the president of Paris FC Pierre Ferracci expressed his “anger”. “I told Jean-Michel Aulas that he has to do the housework. Let everyone take their responsibilities … Jean-Michel has a bunch of morons among his supporters who have nothing to do in the stadium. “
These new incidents are in addition to those which have been linked since the start of the season, from the invasion of the field during Nice-OM to the fight between supporters from Lille and Lensois, not to mention the bottle thrown at Dimitri Payet. On Thursday, an interministerial meeting had on several proposals to improve security in the stadiums. In a message sent Friday evening after the meeting with the president of the FFF Noël le Graët, the delegate minister in charge of sports Roxana Maracineanu expressed her strong dissatisfaction and asked her to act firmly.