By Samindra Kunti in Paris
May 23 – Paris Saint-Germain and a departing Zlatan Ibrahimovic won a 10th French Cup against Marseille at the Stade de France in a final that descended into ugly scenes after the final whistle as Marseilles fans stormed the pitch and set fires in the stands.
The final was always going to be a security test for local authorities ahead of EURO 2016. A tense night saw Swedish superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic play his last match for PSG against the arch rivals from the south, Marseille. At the same time, the French Cup final was the last game at the Stade de France before the opening match of EURO 2016 between hosts France and Romania on June 10.
Local authorities, fearing violence in particular from the Marseille fans, who have endured a dire season under their controversial president Vincent Labrune, enforced a major security operation with more than 1,000 police officers, in collaboration with stewards and private security personnel.
In Ligue 1, away fans are neither welcomed nor allowed at this particular fixture.
In light of the heightened security threat across Europe following the Paris attacks and Brussels bombings, the Cup final was an opportunity for police and security personnel to test their security procedures from the checks and searches of fans to the deployment of bomb squads with dogs inspected the interior of the stadium and parking lots for any suspicious packages.
A perimeter was imposed around the stadium, where fans were checked. A number of Marseille fans did create problems and it took the intervention of riot police to prevent clashes with opposing fans. Inside the perimeter fans were divided up in four zones and not allowed to move freely, a measure that won’t apply for EURO 2016.
After the match Marseille fans tried to tore down a security fence that had been erected to prevent them from storming the pitch. A few fans succeeded in managing to get on to the pitch. Riot police then cordoned of the pitch as PSG were celebrating their win with their fans at the other end of the stadium. Marseille fans also vented their frustration by vandalising seats and lighting fires in the stands. At least five fires of a relative size were lit with black smoke swirling around the night sky.
“It was a Classico, “ said the police chief of the DNLH (Division Nationale de Lutte contre le Hooliganisme) Antoine Boutonnet. “There were provocations that were totally unacceptable and condemnable by the Marseille fans in the stands at the end of the game. It is not acceptable to set seats on fire or start fires in confined spaces.”
“You can’t confuse this game with EURO 2016,” continued Boutonnet. “It’s not the same population of fans. They have nothing to do with each other.”
“The system cracked a little. There are weak points that are not acceptable,” Philippe Galli, prefect for the Seine-Saint-Denis region, which is in part responsible for security at the stadium. “We will have to correct what didn’t work.”
Around 2.5 million spectators are expected for the 51 matches involving 24 teams in 10 stadiums. Between 10,000 to 15,000 security staff are being drafted in.
On the night police arrested 27 fans, but Boutonnet promised that video surveillance footage would be used to identify other perpetrators.
PSG and Marseille last me in the French Cup final in 2006 with the Parisians winning 2-1. Ever since then the clubs have gone in opposite directions. In 2011 Qatar Sports Investments became the majority shareholder at PSG with the objective of winning the Champions League. Laurent Blanc built a solid team around stalwarts Thiago Silva, Marco Verratti and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but PSG have so far been eliminated at the quarter-finals stage of Europe’s biggest club competition.
Marseille can only dream of participation in a european club competition. After Marco Bielsa’s tumultuous reign, l’OM were often unrecognisable this season and finished a lowly 13th in Ligue 1. Authoritarian club president Vincent Labrune has been under fire from both the media and the fans over his financial management, transfer policies, unsavory links with Doyen Sports and future plans for the club. Labrune told French sports daily L’Equipe that Marseille currently don’t have the means to compete.
Those contrasting fortunes were visible again during the final. PSG missed Thiago Motta, Javier Pastore and Verratti, but, without truly impressing, the club from the capital ran out easy winners, 4-2. Marseille demonstrated a bewildering naivety in conceding at the start of both halves. Ibrahimovic delivered on his promise of a carefully curated fond farewell. The Swede scored twice and provided an assist to crown PSG cup winners, ending the Ibra era in Paris in style.
“I came, I saw, I conquered,” commented Ibrahimovic in a flash interview with TF1.
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