“We have heard rotten humor, but making fun of a dead player, with this violence…” – Liberation

On Wednesday night at the Allianz Rivera, football got lost again. He wandered somewhere between a comeback on the pitch (4-2 victory for the Aiglons of OGC Nice against Saint-Etienne) and a song tinged with bad taste in the stands. Between the two, lost instances, supporters and players. “One of the first reactions in the locker room was not chanting, not shouting, not relief, reports Nice coach Christophe Galtier immediately after at a press conference. That’s what the players heard.”

From the ninth minute, a song reached their ears. Nice supporters from the Popular South stand sang a disrespectful tune about Emiliano Sala, a player who died in 2019 in a plane crash in the Channel while on transfer between Nantes and Cardiff. “He’s an Argentinian who doesn’t swim well, Emiliano under water”, harangued about fifty people from the stands behind the cage. A parody of the usual tribute paid by the Nantes people at minute 9, like the number he wore on his back: “He’s an Argentinian, he doesn’t give up, Emiliano Sala.” It is because the Ultras have stubborn resentment: their club lost the final of the Coupe de France on Saturday against Nantes.

At the end of the match, the match delegate gave his report. It is on this basis that the Disciplinary Committee of the Professional Football League was seized to examine the songs. “What I heard is unacceptable, Galtier continues. If it’s to insult the dead, let them stay at home. If it’s to send bottles, let them stay at home. We will win without these people.”

“We are going to be destroyed by social networks”

Thomas is a loyal supporter. He was in Populaire Sud on Wednesday. He heard “a song taken up by about fifty people” : “I think that we are not bad at not condoning that within the Popular itself. My first reaction upon hearing the song is: “We’re going to get destroyed on social media.” Knowing that we already have some setbacks to our credit this season. On August 22, 2021, bottle throwing and invasion of the lawn during Nice-OM led to five supporters being fined and banned from stadiums. A man was also tried for a Nazi salute. The club received a withdrawal of 2 points (including 1 suspended) and a total closed session for three games. The South stand was even closed for one more match, while anti-projectile nets were installed.

In 2019, the Nice prosecutor’s office opened an investigation after homophobic songs and banners. In 2013, violence with Stéphanois at the Allianz Riviera led to a reprieve for seven supporters. Events that occur after the dissolution of the ancestor of the Popular South, the Brigade Sud Nice (BSN), in 2010, by decree of the Ministry of the Interior.

Immediately after the chant on Emiliano Sala, the club released a statement in which they “sentenced [l’incident] with the greatest firmness” and talk about “unthinkable and abject provocation of a minority of its supporters”. The mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, also wants “Let this be investigated with the greatest firmness” – stadium bans, for example. With the seizure of the Disciplinary Committee, the club risks fines, matches behind closed doors and grandstand closures. In a press release, the Ultras Populaire Sud defend themselves by speaking of a “error” accompanied by a “selective outrage” : “We can laugh at everything, but not with anyone”, shouts the group.

“It’s part of a culture of supporteurisme radical which goes far beyond Nice and which is focused on provocation. It is about denigrating the adversary by all means, even the most violent ones, analyzes Nicolas Hourcade, sociologist specializing in supporters. This type of speech is found repeatedly in the stands, banners, songs to provoke the opponent in sometimes hateful terms. He quotes the people of Nice (already) who thanked the collapse of a building in Toulon in the 80s, the rivals of Napoli who evoke Vesuvius, the affair of the anti-Ch’tis banner of PSG supporters in 2008… The various facts have always inspired in the stands: a tag recalling the affair of frozen babies in Brest, or a song about Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès, written by the Nantes supporters themselves. “And no one makes a big deal out of it, taunts supporter Thomas. When it’s in Nice, of course, it takes on a lot more scope.

“We don’t act the same way as at the opera”

All Nice aficionados contacted by Release condemn the words. Nicolas, 32, believes that it is the fact of “a few morons” who “cast discredit on a whole platform”. “As much as at the Stade de France [samedi]we sang the real song in homage to Emiliano Sala…” Solange, president of another group of Nice supporters, “sentenced” but regret “the negative image taken up by all the media” : “We have all been in a football stadium and, pushed by the one next door, Pierre, Paul, Jacques, the referee, we get carried away. It’s a passion and we don’t act the same way as in the opera.”

Julie (1) has been going to the stadium since the end of the 90s. On Saturday, she was in Paris for the final of the Coupe de France. On Wednesday, she was in the ring above the Populaire Sud. “We saw and heard violent things, rotten humor. But making fun of a dead player, with that violence…she regrets. There is a reflection to be had on the people who lead the dance in this forum. The club must ask itself the question and wonder about the place and the tolerance it gives them. The club is responsible for what happens inside its stadium.She, the inveterate supporter, is thinking about changing stands next season.

(1) The first name has been changed.