Five days before the derby du Nord between RC Lens and Lille, the tension is already high among the supporters of the Dogues. Banned from travel by the prefecture of Pas-de-Calais, they could be forced to abandon their team for this very important meeting at the Bollaert-Delelis stadium. Dissatisfied, the leaders of LOSC have announced to file an appeal against this decree and hope to be able to count on his fans.
"LOSC warns now that it formally contests this decision and that it will file an appeal as soon as possible before the competent courts," the club wrote in a statement. The LOSC questions the real reasons for prohibiting this movement. The club first considers that the organizers as well as the competent authorities should be perfectly able to organize a festive event of this magnitude, unavoidable on our territory, and to bring together the supporters of both teams while guaranteeing the best conditions of reception and safety. Moreover, the experience of last season has shown that this is perfectly possible. »
Official press release following the travel ban of LOSC supporters for Lens-LOSC ⬇️
— LOSC (@losclive) October 3, 2023
Fifth club to file an appeal
This Tuesday evening, the Blood and Gold receive the Londoners of Arsenal. And several hundred English were allowed to travel to Artois to attend this second match of the group stage of the Champions League. This raises questions for the leaders of Lille. "English fans welcome tonight as opposed to regional supporters who are denied access to the stands five days later, they were surprised. The decision of the authorities in the context of Sunday's match is thus clearly discriminatory against Lille fans, not homogeneous and particularly unfair. »
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Faced with this observation, the northern club has therefore decided to challenge in court the legality of this decree prohibiting the movement of its supporters. As Pierre Barthélémy, the lawyer specializing in supporters, said on X (ex-Twitter), Lille is only the fifth club to file such an appeal. Olympique de Marseille have done it twice, in 2013 for a trip to Nice and in 2018 before a trip to Lyon. Olympique Lyonnais also challenged such a decree in 2013, for the derby in Saint-Etienne. Nice (against ASSE in 2019) and Saint-Étienne (against Lyon in 2019) are the last two.
Lille (7th) hosts Lens (15th) this Sunday (17:05) for the 8th matchday of Ligue 1.
