The attack, which occurred at the Beaujoire stadium during an FCN-OM match, was followed by a heart attack for the targeted father. Three men, aged 21, 49 and 56, must be tried Monday afternoon before the Nantes criminal court for violence against a family supporting OM on September 1.
The three defendants are being prosecuted for violence committed during a sporting event, aggravated by several circumstances: for having been committed in a meeting, partly with a weapon by destination and partly against a minor aged under fifteen. They are “professionally integrated and not known to the judicial services,” said the Nantes public prosecutor, Renaud Gaudeul, in mid-January.
The son wore an OM jersey
During this match played on September 1, counting for the fourth day of the championship, a couple from Loire-Atlantique, whose six-year-old son was wearing an OM jersey, was attacked in the Océane stand, at the very beginning of the encounter. Tension quickly rose to the point that the father, aged around forty, suffered a heart attack in the stands before being taken to hospital.
“My client partially recognizes the facts: he recognizes insults but not physical violence,” declared Me Samy Robert, lawyer for the youngest defendant. “He is sorry for this father, he let himself be carried away by a crowd,” he added.
Spitting, insults…
The couple had received “spitting, insults, beers thrown in their faces,” the victim’s spouse wrote on X (ex-Twitter), an account confirmed by several journalists present nearby. A shocking scene when “some supporters even took selfies in front of the ambulance in which my husband was being resuscitated,” added the mother.
These events were condemned by both clubs. The indignation had reached the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, and the mayors of the two cities concerned.