Paris FC and Lyon Coupe de France match canceled in latest incident of continued fan unrest in France game

The clash between Paris FC and Olympique Lyonnais in the 64th round of the Coupe de France was called off on Friday due to crowd trouble as French football continues to grapple with recurring bad scenes this season despite the measures taken. recent government legislation.

Spectators at the Stade Charlety were asked to leave the venue in the first half with the score at 1-1 after fans clashed and flares were thrown. The incident comes a month after Dimitri Payet had a water bottle thrown in Lyon.

Here’s everything you need to know about the latest incident, and the fan unrest in French football in general.

Coupe de France where the latest incident happened

All of this takes place in Paris on Friday night during the second day of round 64 of the Coupe de France, one of the largest and most diverse domestic cup competitions in European football with 32 different ties. spread across four groups from Thursday to Sunday. also included groups from overseas communities visiting mainland France.

The Stade Charlety is a shaded-like venue that holds just under 20,000 people and is very awkward with the police due to the running track around the field and the relatively open and unsettling layout of the stands that have contributed to the protests. conflict.

Lyon fans at the center of the second incident

Lyon once again found themselves implicated in fan unrest, and both PFC president Pierre Ferracci and CV counterpart Jean-Michel Aulas recognized that the support visit had something to do with the new season. most embarrassing Friday – albeit to varying degrees.

“This is supposed to be a great celebration for us,” said Ferracci. “However, there is a brute force. Aulas must calm his fanatics. We must stop inventing things. Any punishment must be exemplary. I have heard things in the act. lang defies belief We know it starts at the end I won’t give a rematch These incidents always involve the same clubs.

“These are not the fans. I said to Aulas: ‘You have to clean the house, or you will bring down French football with you.” Aulas is interested in weighing the pros and cons because he has a group of fanatics who are nowhere near the football field. He is smart enough to know his club has problems and French football will continue to have problems if it stays this way. “

“Shared responsibility,” Aulas replied. “This is a social issue. Many factors show me that we have a responsibility and that we have to organize our house. However, the first flares were thrown at their fans. me and therefore not by them. Followed by a riot. We too saw hundreds of people on the field who were not Lyonnais.”

Despite Aulas’ somewhat vulgar words, Lyon have moved to ban their fans from future away matches until a more permanent solution is found.

What exactly happened this time?

Like the bad scenes earlier this term in Nice and Lens, there have been interpersonal clashes that spilled from the stands into the field. There were also flares thrown with minimal security separating home and neutral audiences from those focused on trouble.

While Aulas suggested that Lyon fans were agitated by Paris Saint-Germain troublemakers who had infiltrated the Stade Charlety, Ferracci was less impressed and criticized his counterpart for fabricating questions. story to protect the image of Les Gones.

“Aulas told me that a group of PSG named Panda attacked the Lyon fans,” added the PFC supremo. “That’s what he said to the security chief in the hallways and locker rooms – made up various stories! The violence happened right in front of me. They were out of control when they weren’t pacified. .”

How?

Unfortunately, it seems security was once again insufficient, and Ferracci admitted as much as he drew parallels between this and the 2019 incident involving RC Lens in Ligue 2: “We were can handle Lens fans in 2019,” added the PFC president. “We didn’t need to take any lessons. We thought there was enough security.

Unrest before in French football this season

The scene between Paris FC and Lyon is the latest in a growing number of ugly scenes that make French football look less sharp. OGC Nice vs. Marseille was the first big game of the season, followed by Lens vs. Lille OSC and OL vs. OM last month.

Montpellier HSC, Angers SCO, OM and AS Saint-Etienne also saw incidents at home that resulted in fan bans while Nice and Lyon were both given one point for major incidents. in the clash with Marseille.

What happens now?

Lyon being eliminated from the Coupe de France and Paris FC automatically advancing to the next round is a very real possibility. If the French Football Federation (FFF) follows the lead of the Professional Football Association (LFP), the match could still be replayed at a neutral venue behind closed doors – the Coupe de France is overseen by the FFF while Ligue 1 is the domain of the LFP.

“It was anger, we were very happy, this is a celebration for us,” said Ferracci. “When Lyon and Marseille insult each other, it’s not normal for other clubs to be fined. Everyone needs to be held accountable.”

Aulas added: “We will take extremely harsh measures against everyone who is about to be identified. “We are in the process of filing a lawsuit to show our desire to punish those who deserve to be punished but also to find out who is responsible for what happened.

“Need to analyze and find out who is responsible. Will punish but can’t bear all the responsibility. Must analyze all. For me, I don’t think I’m responsible for the incident, but they created it. things we should never see in a football stadium.”

The problems of the French game this season forced the government to announce just days ago that games would be canceled if a player or official was injured by a bullet while matches had up to 30 minutes to resume. continued or canceled after an incident.

There are also pledges to outright ban supporters of violence and eliminate plastic bottles in and around French stadiums by the summer of 2022. Those moves may not have been enough, however. and not active enough.