Out of sight out of mind?
It is the somewhat unpleasant feeling that crosses the Parisian ultras, whose relations with the club are reduced to a minimum, due to the closed doors linked to the coronavirus but also to a lack of communication with the sports sector that the new president of the Collective Ultras Paris (CUP), Nicolas Boffredo, regrets in one of his first interviews.
How is the life of your group going without a stadium?
NICOLAS BOFFREDO.
We would like to be able to encourage the team in another way, outside the stadium.
If the easing of containment allows it, we will put things in place.
We are not going to stay a year without doing anything.
With us, people are disgusted, they find it long, but they also have the slab
(sic)
to come back even stronger.
Are you already planning a return to the stadium, in a Covid-compatible framework?
Many say to themselves that it is better to leave with the idea of a white season, to avoid making films.
Wearing a mask and distancing is not possible in the ultra world.
We did without it once and we were hit
hard (Editor's note: a controversy broke out after the friendly against Waasland-Beveren),
and we tried by respecting all the precautions
(against Celtic)
and it was rotten.
It does not work, we are not made to live with these measures.
Press release of November 12, 2020. pic.twitter.com/FpFqJptZ5L
- Ultras Paris Collective (@Co_Ultras_Paris) November 12, 2020
You recently criticized Leonardo who believed that “Paris was never exactly the city of football”.
What were the consequences?
There was no link with the athlete before our press release, there has been nothing since.
We have no feedback.
We do our job.
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Why are you asking for more contacts with the sports sector?
We have no connection with the players.
We do the tifos, the trips, but we also represent all the supporters.
We are not here to teach the players their trade, but a minimum of exchanges are necessary.
During the meeting we had after my appointment
(Editor's note: with the Director General Jean-Claude Blanc, in particular)
, I asked the question and I was told that it was complicated with the Covid.
Is it a pirouette, the reality, or do they not want to see us the way we sometimes hear it?
It's a bit heavy.
Does the communion with the players during the qualification against Dortmund, on March 11, accentuate your feelings?
That day, against Dortmund, the players needed us.
We have done our work as ultras, welcoming them, boosting them.
We see that they are happy to share these moments.
We would like a little more, if only for a meeting, so that the relationship does not end with the atmosphere and the banners.
We lived this moment together, and nothing has existed since.
We don't understand.
Parc des Princes (Paris), March 11.
The players came to celebrate the victory with the supporters.
LP / AJ
What is your view and that of the group on irregular results and performances?
If we had been there, the results might have been different, especially against Marseille
(0-1 on September 13 at the Parc)
.
Maybe we wouldn't struggle like that in the Champions League.
At the same time, we have the impression that there is a small internal fight between Tuchel and Leonardo.
It's starting to annoy people.
Everything was going well three months ago and here we see a different PSG.
People know there is fatigue and no mood, but they ask themselves 50,000 questions.
In front of the TV, we have plenty of time to see the lines ... When we see the tactical choices, we sometimes wonder if the coach is doing it on purpose, if he is trying to get fired.
Afterwards, we do not forget that we are leading the championship, racing in the Champions League, we are not at all making banners.
The club played CUP chants during the women's team's victory over Lyon on Friday (1-0), and will do so on Saturday for the men's team against Bordeaux.
Are you satisfied ?
For the girls, I found out after the game.
We were not made aware of anything.
No one asked us what we thought of it or what type of chanting would be suitable.
That the PSG wants to broadcast songs of the ultras, OK, but the least thing is to tell us about it.