"We can no longer let things drift", the call of the mayor of Saint-Etienne to put an end to violence in the stadiums

On May 29, after the penalty shootout recording the defeat of the Stéphanois and their relegation to Ligue 2, several hundred angry spectators entered the lawn.

Some had molested players and stewards while others threw smoke bombs into the official stand.

On June 23, the Disciplinary Committee of the Professional Football League revealed the sanctions against the Forézien club: six penalty points, including three suspended, applicable to the 2022-2023 season and six games behind closed doors at the Geoffroy- Guichard, two of which were suspended.

Sanctions that fall badly when the club entered into exclusive negotiations with the American David Blitzer for a takeover.

ℹ️ 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲́ 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗹 pic.twitter.com/VNQBNwnjhO

– AS Saint-Etienne (@ASSEofficiel) June 23, 2022

The day after the announcement of these sanctions which weigh down the chances of Saint-Etienne in the race for the immediate rise in Ligue 1, the mayor of the Forézienne city spoke on June 24.

Gaël Perdriau, mayor of the city and president of Saint-Etienne Métropole, sent a letter to all the mayors and presidents of agglomerations whose football club is in Ligue 1 or Ligue 2. He offers them to support him in his approach.

This consists "in making the voice of local authorities heard, which must manage, on a regular basis, the negative consequences of the excesses linked to the football matches organized by the LFP" indicates the city councilor in the press release before continuing: "the excesses came end an extremely difficult season in which all cities with a club in Ligue 1 or Ligue 2 have faced acts of violence.

Montpellier, Marseille, Nice, Brest, Lens, Lille, Lyon, Paris, Le Havre are just a few examples, along with Saint-Etienne, of this wave of violence that has hit football stadiums for too long.

"Take the risk that one day a much more serious tragedy will occur"

He continues: “The daily violence that affects French society, with its increasingly accentuated fragmentation, only reinforces this trend and transforms football stadiums into a potential outlet for all economic, social and political frustration.

We can no longer let things drift in this way without taking the risk that one day a much more serious tragedy will occur.

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Gaël Perdriau then appeals to his colleagues from cities hosting a Ligue 1 or Ligue 2 club: "This is the reason why I took the initiative to propose to the president of the Association of Mayors of France and his counterpart of urban France to work, within the two associations, on the drafting of a white paper of concrete proposals (...).

Of course, I have extended this approach to the bodies managing football, whether it is the French Football Federation (FFF) or the Professional Football League (LFP) without forgetting the National Association of Supporters, (...) all this placed under the authority of the State in order to ensure coordination with all the players.

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