The fan zone installed in Lille for Euro 2016 (illustration). – M.Libert / 20 Minutes
- The France team enters the Euro 2021 football tournament on Tuesday evening.
- In Lille, the protocol is too restrictive to open a fan zone.
- Fans will nevertheless be able to attend the matches in bars.
We will have to find a plan B. The Lille town hall has confirmed to 20 minutes that there would be no fan zone to broadcast the first match of the French football team, which made its debut in Euro 2021, on Tuesday evening. There are, however, loopholes for supporters determined not to stay at home.
Due to the coronavirus epidemic, we already knew that it would be impossible to install fan zones, like those that had grown everywhere in France on the occasion of Euro 2016 football. However, if the government has not prohibited the establishment of areas dedicated to the broadcasting of the competition, the Ministry of Youth and Sports has made its authorization subject to draconian conditions. Suddenly, “no fan zone for the match on Tuesday, the protocol on the site of the Ministry of Sports is very strict, which is understandable,” recognizes Jacques Richir, deputy mayor of Lille.
No ban on broadcasting the Euro on the terrace in bars
Moreover, this concerns not only the fan zones installed in public spaces, but also those installed in establishments open to the public (ERP), in other words bars for example. Thus, traders wishing to broadcast Euro matches on their terrace via giant screens will have to comply to the specific protocol. For indoor or outdoor distribution under “normal” conditions, the ERP are subject to the sanitary protocol in force since June 9.
And, unlike what has been done in some cities, the Lille town hall has not planned to issue a decree prohibiting the broadcasting of matches on the terraces of bars. So, ok to watch the Euro in a bistro as long as it is in small groups, on televisions and as long as you get home at 11pm.
And it will be so for the whole month of June confirmed the town hall of Lille at 20 Minutes. On the other hand, after the last phase of deconfinement, scheduled for June 30, there may be change. Indeed, the municipality, the European Metropolis of Lille (MEL) and the prefecture are working on setting up a fan zone to broadcast the last three matches of the competition, in July. It remains to be seen whether France will still be in the game.