Crered: Michel teacherbircoli, Smooth
On May 5, 1992, French football lived the greatest disaster in its history. A few minutes from the kick-off of the French Cup semi-final between SC Bastia and Olympique de Marseille, the northern rostrum of the Armand-Cesari stadium collapsed. The official assessment is heavy: 19 dead and 2,357 injured.
A temporary column that was not up to standard
Tuesday May 5, 1992. The town of Bastia and fervent supporters of Sporting Club de Bastia are celebrating. Accustomed to the second division meetings since its relegation in 1986, the Corsicans received theOlympique de Marseille of Jean-Pierre Papin, Chris Waddle et Basile werefor a place in the final of the French Cup.
For this long -awaited reception, the leaders of the Bastian club saw things big. The Claude Papi tribune, which could only contain 750 places, is destroyed two weeks before the meeting to make way for A temporary column, capable of containing 9,300 people. Construction work is entrusted to a company from Nice. In just a few days, the workers ride a huge scaffolding that will serve as a northern grandstand. Delivery times are respected but Security standards are ignored. A security commission inspects the site and judges the reliability of the work insufficient. The wooden wedges and the concrete blocks on which the scaffolding rests perplex. The Corsican Football League closes its eyes and send to the French Football Federation A false document validating the holding of the match.
19 dead and 2,357 injured
On D -day, the work has not yet been completed. A final security commission goes to the foot of the gallery and proceeds to a final inspection. Their opinion remains unchanged. With the arrival of the first spectators, the wooden holds begin to move and worry. The workers are in a hurry and nuts in a hurry while the gallery fills up, while representatives of security ask Speaker Jean-Pierre Paoli to calm supporters by inviting them not to hit their feet. His request is in vain. At 8:23 p.m., seven minutes before kick -off, the fields descending from the stands are hidden by a huge din Resonant throughout the stadium. Then this deafening noise gives way to a long silence.
-The top of the north rostrum has just collapsed. Spectators and journalists sitting at the top fell fifteen meters. In this heap of metallic tubes, the first survivors fly to the aid of the victims stuck under the debris. Basti players hasten to dismantle the barriers so that spectators can take refuge on the lawn.
In the space of a few minutes, Le Armand-Cesari stands Location on the Commune of Furiani turns into a makeshift hospital. The most serious wounded are deposited in the center of the green rectangle, before being transported by helicopter to the nearest hospitals. Over the hours that get away, The assessment is increasing and the Corsican emergencies are overwhelmed. The first deaths are found, the injured are counted by thousands and the reinforcement of hospitals on the continent is requested. In this fatal evening of May 5, 1992 in Furiani, 19 spectators lost their lives and 2,357 were injured.
Tribute time and convictions
The first consequence of this drama was sporty. Marseillais and Bastiais refused to replay this meetingthe French Cup 1992 stopped without going to an end. A first since the end of the Second World War. Winner of his semi-final in front of theAS Cannes, AS Monaco was designated by the FFF to represent France at the European Cup European Cup.
On the judicial level, the Bastia Criminal Court delivered its judgment in 1995. Jean-Marie Boidmondpresident of the Nice construction company, was sentenced to 24 months in prison and 30,000 francs fine for manslaughter. Michel Lorenzivice-president of SC Bastiaalso received two years in prison for having issued a false minutes. Representatives of the Corsican Football League are also convicted of having sent to the Federation a false document approving the holding of the match.
Finally, after years of struggle, the families of the victims have obtained the right that May 5 become a day without football in Francein tribute to their deceased loved ones. A law definitively adopted in October 2021 by the Parliament, neutralizing the day of May 5 in the calendar of French professional football.
