Like their historic colors, the supporters of Olympic Biarritz were red with pleasure.
But they made the prefect of Pyrénées-Atlantiques red with rage.
If the rugby club of the Basque coast obtained its accession to the Top 14 after a more than close match against the Bayonnais enemy, it also exposed itself to possible legal trouble.
Saturday evening, after the meeting, the prefect indeed published a statement concerning the "non-compliance with sanitary measures" on the occasion of this hot derby.
He “strongly condemns the breaches of sanitary rules” and announces having “referred the matter to the public prosecutor under article 40 of the code of criminal procedure”.
An article which imposes the obligation, "for any constituted authority, any public officer or civil servant, in the exercise of their functions", to report crimes or offenses of which it is aware.
BIARRITZ IS IN TOP 14!
pic.twitter.com/QaNOLfnSA1
- Emmanuel Hoarau (@ManuHoarau) June 12, 2021
In the viewfinder of the representative of the State, several violations of the health protocol.
Initially, the authorized tonnage, by decree, of 5,000 people inside the Aguiléra stadium.
It was "obviously exceeded", according to the prefect.
Another note: the health pass checks were not systematically carried out by the club (negative PCR test, certificate of recent Covid contamination or complete vaccination course).
The prefect had banned the broadcast of the match in bars
The prefect does not stop there.
He writes that the national police services have also observed the sale of alcohol to take away in the sports area.
Without forgetting that at the end of the meeting, won on penalties, the public invaded the lawn to find their heroes, totally forgetting the barrier gestures.
Earlier in the week, the prefect of the Pyrénées Atlantiques had already banned the consumption of alcohol on the public highway on the territory of the municipalities of Bayonne and Biarritz this Saturday from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. but above all banned, by prefectural decree, "the televised broadcast of the match (...) in all open bars, cafes and restaurants, in the municipalities of Bayonne, Anglet, Bidart, Biarritz, Guéthary, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Ciboure, Urrugne and Hendaye ”.
A decision challenged by the Union of Trades and Industries of the Hotel and Catering Industry (Umih) and validated a few minutes before kickoff by the administrative court.
Biarritz, Saturday.
At the end of the match, hundreds of supporters invaded the pitch.
Thibault SOUNY / AFP THIBAULT SOUNY
However, everything had been planned and organized during a meeting between the managers of the rugby club and the sub-prefect of Bayonne. The prefect therefore announces, in addition to the seizure of the prosecutor, that he "studies the administrative sanctions likely to be taken". Not enough to spoil the party, Saturday evening, in the Basque streets. But the day after jubilation promises to be complicated.
