Club in Flames: The Mess of Marseille

Since the outbreak of the corona crisis, incidents of violence among football fans have dropped significantly. The lack of presence in the stands has reduced police work when it comes to securing sporting events. Other than that, games have been postponed in the last year mainly because of closures or outbreaks of the virus among the various teams and not because of the various ultras exploits.

Despite this, the ugly headlines and images that came from France last Saturday brought back to the agenda the usual and old troubles. About 300 Marseille fans, known to be particularly violent, broke into the group’s training ground, threw flares and firecrackers, set fire to trees, committed looting and caused damage to vehicles and buildings. Following this, the team asked Maran to postpone the game between them that was scheduled for last Sunday, and was answered in the affirmative.

The fans protested the situation of the ninth-ranked team, 16 points less than the leader Lille (Marseille also held two games less), and demanded that the management resign.

During the riots, fans waved signs against President Jacques-Henri Euro and members of the board. The signs erected at the site and on the side of the road in the south of France read “Henry Euro, Marseille vomits you”, “You are disgusting”, “You brought shame on us”, “Give us back the group, we hate you” and “In four years you only managed to be ridiculous”. Police arrested 25 people after they were forced to use tear gas to disperse the crowd.

And if that’s not enough, coach Andre Villas-Boas, who had previously announced he would leave at the end of the season, announced his resignation today (Tuesday) due to disagreement with management over the addition of Celtic midfielder Olivier Nacham.

The Portuguese made the remarks at the press conference before the away game tonight (22:00) against Lance and claimed that he was not interested in the player at all, but heard about his joining on loan from the media: “It happened on Saturday. I did not demand money from them at all, I just want to go.”

Defender Alvaro Gonzalez reportedly was hit by one of the flares thrown while trying to prevent the Ultras leaders from entering the compound while his friends and professional staff were inside. “I came to the club because of its history and its passion,” the Spaniard said. “This city is wonderful, we all love the team and what happened should not happen again.”

“There were a lot of screams, we couldn’t really talk to them,” one fan interviewed told RMC radio station. “The players were scared, they realized we were not just kidding. Those who came out showed courage, but where was the president? He abandoned the ship drowning. Dmitry Payet is lucky he did not go out because they would attack him. We are tired of stars licking management.”

“The unjustified violence has endangered the lives of the team members and players,” the club said in a statement after the postponement of the game against Ran.

The stunned president responded: “Hundreds of our workers are in shock. We did not expect this herd of savages to come and destroy everything. What happened is very frightening and I think the worst case scenario was avoided. It is unacceptable and we can not let them do what they want, which is to create chaos. “Everything that happened was videotaped and the police will use it in the investigation.”

Henry Euro was hated by the fans because they claimed he had distanced their representatives from the club and made sure that the management would not serve officials with an affinity for him. They mentioned what he said about a month ago about “danger” in case there were too many fans inside the club and called them “disorganized gangs”. In addition, they say he sees them only as a financial power and treats everything only from an economic point of view.

“We don’t have a lot of money like PSG and stars like Neymar or Di Maria don’t come to us,” the city claims, “but we have a soul and a heart. That needs to be understood.” Commentators like Marseille’s former star Jean-Pierre Papen have also criticized the president.

Some of the occupants of the stands at the Stade Velodrome (in pre-Corona times) dislike Henry Euro also because he is originally from Paris and suspicious in their eyes as a hated Paris Saint-Germain fan. Since he was appointed to the position in 2016 by American owner Frank McCourt, quite a bit of friction has arisen between him and the audience.

For example, he provoked outrage when he demanded the removal of one of the extremist fan groups from the stands and demanded that the spectators who caused damage to the stands pay for the repairs out of their own pockets. His commercial approach was never well received at the club and the lack of success on the pitch only increased the resentment towards him.

Marseille is the only French team to win the Champions League, in the first season in which the factory was played in its current format (1992/93), but has not come close to its achievements since the time Bernard Taffy served as president. The season was eliminated in the home stage of the factory after losing five of its six games.

“The divorce is inevitable, fans find no identity within the current Marseille,” Le Monde wrote. “They feel ostracized and have a good reason. The board members are disconnected, suffering from ignorance and not connected to the history and heart of the fans.”

Veteran goalkeeper Steve Mandanda said: “I have been at the club for 13 years and know everything about it. I know how much love there is around him and how much frustration it can cause, but what happened this time surprised me, it is not acceptable. We are footballers and a period of failure can lead to such violence It’s time for reconciliation. ”

Police are now on high alert ahead of Marseille’s next home game, which will be this coming Sunday against arch-rival Paris Saint-Germain. The champions lost 3: 2 to Lorraine from the bottom this week (two Neymar penalties did not help them), and after the first defeat suffered by their new coach, Mauricio Pochettino, the game will take place in a particularly tense atmosphere. Even if Marseille win, it’s hard to believe the winds will calm down. And what will happen in case of loss? So Marseille fear that things will get out of hand again.