Sports sociologist Patrick Mignon says he is shocked but not surprised by Saturday’s mess at the Stade de France before the Champions League football final between Real Madrid and Liverpool, and Sunday’s excesses in Saint-Étienne. For him, France should take inspiration from Germany to abandon all security and put in place a real policy for managing supporters.
Are you surprised and shocked by what happened at the Stade de France on the sidelines of the match between Real Madrid and Liverpool?
Yes, it clearly shocked me because it reflects a lack of preparation that is all the more annoying since it is still backed by years of experience of what football has become. It’s as if nothing had been held back and that the only way to deal with the relative disorder caused by the supporters was to control the pitch with force, tear gas and brutal arrests.
France is behind on how to manage relations in the relationship with supporters?
Yes, and I think that the return of disorder in the French championship is very much linked to that. Since I have been working on the issue, we have clearly seen that the various players have positions that are too heterogeneous to have a policy on supporters. Who’s ordering ? Is it the Ministry of the Interior, which deals with matters of public order? Is it the Federation or the Football League which are independent? The league is more interested in the economic health of clubs. The federation manages its own economic interests and on the police side, we do what we know how to do even if some police officers have specialized in this question with a very different vision.
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In Ligue 1, prefectural bans on the movement of supporters are increasing. A form of resignation?
Sure ! Prevention is something that is complicated to put in place, we take risks. If we coordinate well and are consistent, we manage to control these risks with the clubs, supporters’ services, cities… But the prefect prefers to open the umbrella. We manage the issue by not eliminating the problem. There are clubs that do it well but there is not always continuity when you change governance. The supporters are a kind of hot potato that we pass from one to the other.
Is this worrying in view of the Olympics and the Rugby World Cup?
No, it is not transferable. Our country clearly has a problem with football since the end of the second world war. It’s a sport that has quickly become professional, which attracts people, what we used to call the populace, not the good people… And that’s something that lasts, especially if supporters add more committing damage. For the Rugby World Cup, we will have a different audience and attitude in terms of dialogue and set-up because we assume that they are good people. For the Olympic Games, no problem either. The problem of football is the one on which we break our noses for lack of putting in place innovative things.
Our European neighbors are doing better?
Absolutely. In Great Britain and Germany, we work in terms of good knowledge of the environment and information on travel flows. The Germans very early put in place police strategies to reduce tension, systems of consultation between the police and social workers, local football clubs… There is a permanent dialogue, education. That’s the way to go: take football more casually.
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