A green tide in Saint-Etienne, the Ministry of the Interior persists-Liberation

« My heart is green » : Hundreds of Stéphanois dressed in the colors of ASSE gathered this Saturday, March 29, in the center of Saint-Etienne in support of two groups of ultra supporters of the football club threatened with dissolution by the Ministry of the Interior, upstream of the match against PSG in the evening.

« We are going to fight to the end to save our associations and indicate to the ministry that he is wrong »hammered the press before the departure of the Tom Dufieu procession, spokesperson for Green Angels, by calling the hypothesis of a dissolution of« ineptitude ». « To be ultra is to give 100 % of your time and your energy to your club is the opposite to seek violence and use football for that »added Corentin Cartal for the Magic Fans.

While ASSE must receive Paris Saint Germain in L1 match on Saturday evening, the two ultras groups called on the Stéphanois to walk to the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium, the emblematic « cauldron », and thousands of people are expected, according to the prefecture.

This has strengthened the security systems to supervise the demonstration and the match, planned at closed counters, although Parisian supporters are prohibited from travel. Reinforcements in equipment (water cannons, drones) and in mobile forces were mobilized. In their call to demonstrate, the organizers wanted an atmosphere « Family and festive » And asked not to bring explosive devices, or parties or unions flags.

The Ministry of the Interior, which wishes to stem violence in football, examines the situation of several supporter clubs, including that of the Magic Fans and Green Angels, founded in 1991 and 1992 and which manage more than 15,000 members of the South and North Kops.

Their representatives, as well as the ASSE management, are summoned Tuesday before the National Consultative Commission for the Prevention of Violence during Sports Demonstrations, which will then render an advisory opinion.

« Although they are imperfect, we admit, our groups are structured »supported Tom Duffieu, Green Angels, in front of the press. « It’s been 33 years that we are serious ASSE interlocutors, public authorities ». When « Some of our members commit crimes, they assume it before the courts and internally, we have procedures that allow us to play our role as regulator », he continued.

Even if no decision is made, the threat of dissolution of the Magic Fans and Green Angels aroused a large disapproval in a city viscerally attached to its football club, although it is no longer at its level of the glorious 1960s and 1970s.

The president of ASSE Ivan Gazidis, who was to join the procession in the afternoon, thus opposed « firmly » to a measure deemed « Disproportionate and ineffective to combat violence and discrimination in stages ».

The two clubs, main animators of the popular stands with their songs, flags and tifos, also received the support of the ten parliamentarians of the Loire, all labels combined, the mayor ex-LR of Saint-Etienne Gaël Perdriau, and even the LR deputy of Haute-Loire Laurent Wauquiez, in competition with the Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau For the presidency of their party.

In a statement published this Saturday at the end of the afternoon, that Release was able to consult, Place Beauvau justified its request for dissolving groups by the « true explosion of violence On the occasion of professional football meetings ». From « The start of the 2024/2025 season »these are « 64 meetings that were enamelled with serious incidents », having given rise to « 627 arrests (…), up 41 % compared to last season, where there had been a total of 718 ».

The two groups of Stéphanois supporters, as well as that of The « Legion X » for Paris FCare « Responsible for the most violent incidents », estimated the interior ministry, adding that « Other procedures are under investigation concerning other clubs in France ».

The institution led by Bruno Retailleau also stresses that the increased deployment of police forces to secure football meetings, which « Besides to the detriment of other more priority missions, such as the fight against organized crime or against delinquency ». The ministry’s press release concludes that « Stadium prohibitions and dissolutions will no longer have a reason to be as soon as public order is respected and violence will have disappeared. »