The future of top French soccer side Paris Saint-Germain is “at stake” if the club fails to rein in violent hooligans, French Secretary of State for Sport Rama Yade said yesterday.
PSG’s history of fan violence took a fatal twist with the death yesterday morning of a 37-year-old man, named only as Yann L, who suffered a beating by fellow PSG supporters on the fringes of a match against arch rivals Marseille on Feb. 28.
Amid widespread calls for violence to be eradicated around PSG’s notoriously troubled Parc des Princes Stadium, Yade said the club is now under even more intense pressure to act.
“The very worst thing possible has happened. Passion has been transformed into sordid, senseless and murderous rage. The love of the shirt has been replaced by hatred, for each other, for sport and for life,” Yade said. “Supporters who kill each other should be punished with the utmost severity. The very survival of the club is at stake.”
Despite their relative lack of success on the field, PSG are still one of the best supported clubs in the country — although that reputation is tarnished by the delicate coexistence of several rival groups of fans.
The deceased was reportedly a member of the “Casual Firm” group of supporters who congregate at the Boulogne end of the Parc and was reportedly attacked by members of a rival group from the Auteuil end.
Like arch rivals Marseille, PSG fan groups have close ties to club management and can even influence the running of the club.
After yesterday’s death, PSG announced they had provisionally suspended all agreements that had been signed with the various supporters’ associations.
Offering condolences to the fan’s family, a club statement said: “We intend to fully investigate the consequences of this incident and then take the necessary action to help eradicate violence from in and around the Parc des Princes, and during the team’s away trips.”
Judicial sources later announced that four suspects who had been taken in for questioning by police had been detained. A fifth man who was questioned on Wednesday was later released.
A 28-year-old man suspected of taking part in the beating was charged with attempted homicide by police on Saturday, although that charge could now be changed to homicide.
French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux immediately ordered PSG to play their French Cup match, scheduled for next Tuesday at Auxerre, behind closed doors.
The league had already ordered the Nice v PSG and the PSG v Boulogne-sur-Mer league encounters tomorrow and on Mar. 28 respectively to be played behind closed doors.
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