Arnaud Rouger, general director of the LFP, speaks exclusively for RMC Sport the day after the serious incidents that occurred in Marseille, which led to the postponement of the clash between OM and OL on Sunday evening.
How do you react after these very serious incidents that occurred last night in Marseille?
Above all, we thought of Fabio Grosso and his deputy. It is completely unacceptable for game players to be targeted by assholes. We wish them a speedy recovery. The most important thing is that they recover as best as possible after this attack of which they were victims. Obviously, and this goes without saying, the League strongly condemns the incidents. Now, condemning is the minimum, and that is not enough. We must act. Strong sanctions are needed. The most important thing is therefore to punish the guilty very harshly. In this matter, the League does not weaken. We are surely one of the most repressive authorities in Europe. We have just verified this in the Montpellier-Clermont case and you follow the situation perfectly to know that the disciplinary committee very regularly takes heavy sanctions to close stands. We are also uncompromising on comments made in matches or outside matches, as demonstrated by the sanction recently taken against the player Atal.
“This is not our responsibility”
Gérald Darmanin defended himself this Monday morning on RMC and BFM TV, affirming that the public authorities did their job yesterday. The incidents took place 500m from the stadium. What can the League do?
The League collaborates perfectly throughout the season with all the State services concerned. On this subject, we are in the process of finalizing a new agreement with the Ministries of the Interior, Justice and Sports which sets out the modalities for organizing meetings and the scope of each person’s responsibilities. In terms of prevention, action and repression, the League carries out work recognized by all, and in particular by State services. In this case, as you say, the incidents took place 500 meters from the stadium. This is not our responsibility. However, as with every incident, we stand alongside the State and we fully support the statements of Gérald Darmanin who calls for greater justice from the perpetrators of these particularly serious acts.
Are you going to file a complaint like the two clubs?
Obviously, we will become a civil party in this case, as we systematically do in the event of serious incidents, the damage to the image of football being indisputable.
“These individuals have no place at the stadium, nor around the stadium”
Will the match be replayed behind closed doors?
It will be up to the Competitions Commission which meets on Thursday to deal with this question.
Racist and homophobic gestures were seen in the enclosure. What will the League do to punish these actions? ?
As soon as racist or homophobic facts are noted, the disciplinary committee takes charge. The same will of course apply to the actions observed in the stands.
The Minister of Sports said again this morning “that work with the sports movement, the Football League in severity must be confirmed”. What more can you do to eradicate these behaviors?
Today, throughout Europe, football must face phenomena of violence such as recurring racist incidents in Spain and Italy or even matches abandoned in the Netherlands following phenomena of hooliganism. France is therefore not an isolated case and the League treats these questions with great firmness. But beyond the many collective sanctions taken by the League, collaborative work with State services remains essential in order to obtain more effective individual sanctions against the perpetrators of these unspeakable acts. These individuals have no place at the stadium, nor around the stadium.