Six prefects, zero conversations
2015. That is the last time a Paris Saint-Germain supporter legally walked into the Stade Velodrome. Eleven years later, Collectif Ultras Paris has run out of patience and gone to court over it.
The group filed an urgent application at the Conseil d’Etat on Thursday. What it wants is straightforward enough: kill the travel ban before Sunday’s Classique, which kicks off at 20h45 in Marseille.
Two texts are in the firing line. The prefectural decree of 28 August, and the ministerial order everyone expects to land in the next few days. “Eleven years of bans is enough,” the CUP said.
Marseille fans get the same treatment in reverse. They have not been allowed into the Parc des Princes either. So French football’s biggest fixture will be played in front of home supporters only, for the eleventh season running.
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“We are not asking for special treatment”
The ban is one thing. The silence around it is what really bothers the Paris group.
Six different prefects have held the post since 2015. According to the CUP, not one of them ever picked up the phone to open talks with supporters.
“This time, we have decided to use every legal means at our disposal to defend our freedom to travel and our right to support our club,” the collective said in its statement. It insists it wants no favours, only that “the law be respected”.
Three days to rule
French law hands the decision to the authorities. They can restrict or block an away trip when they judge that visiting fans are likely to cause serious public-order problems, and that clause has been pulled out every single year for OM-PSG.
The clock is the problem now. Kick-off is in three days. Judges at the administrative court will have to work quickly, and whatever they decide is unlikely to stay confined to one fixture.
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