The meeting between Nantes and Nice (1-0) turned into tragedy this Saturday. The Nantes public prosecutor confirmed a little over an hour and a half after the end of the match the death of a 31-year-old Nantes supporter. This ultra, a member for several years of the Loire Brigade, the main Nantes group, was stabbed before the match, probably by a VTC driver who was transporting Nice supporters.
A scenario confirmed by the Nantes public prosecutor in a press release formalizing the death published around 12:30 a.m. “Shortly before 8 p.m., several VTC vehicles transporting Nice supporters were attacked by supporters of FC Nantes while they were traveling on avenue de la gare de Saint Joseph, in order to go to the Beaujoire stadium, explains the text. During these events, in circumstances which remain to be determined, a 31-year-old man, a supporter of FC Nantes, collapsed. »
“Wound in the back”
While the prosecutor, by confirming “a wound in the back, which could correspond to a bladed weapon”specifies that man is “died on the spot” after a cardiac massage, other sources close to the supporter indicated in the evening that he had been transferred to the University Hospital around 9:30 p.m.
At that moment, on the Saint-Georges side, so close and so far from Beaujoire, the atmosphere was heavy. Many members of the Loire Brigade were still present, in shock, waiting for news. They had decided not to enter the stadium and not to host their stand as they usually do. “ FC Nantes has learned that a Nantes supporter was seriously injured before the match », wrote the club on X before kick-off, bringing its “ support for the family and loved ones of the victim “.
According to West France, the perpetrator initially fled before going to the police station at the end of the evening. The territorial directorate of the judicial police and the Departmental Security of the DDSP of Loire-Atlantique have been informed of the investigation opened by the Nantes public prosecutor’s office for intentional homicide. Witness hearings are underway and are expected to continue tonight, according to the same source.