Nice supporters banned from traveling to Bastia for the Coupe de France Corte-OGC Nice match

As part of the Coupe de France match between USC Corte (N3) and OGC Nice (L1), state services have prohibited the movement of Nice supporters to Furiani, where the match will be played this Saturday at 6 p.m. The decree comes into force from this Friday at the end of the day.

Nice supporters will not be able to go to Furiani to support their team against USC Corte in the 32nd finals of the Coupe de France.

As the Santos-Manfredi stadium in Corte is not approved to host a match of this level of competition, the match between the two teams, scheduled for this Saturday, December 21 at 6 p.m., must be played on the Armand-Cesari lawn.

The Ministry of the Interior and the prefecture of Haute-Corse have therefore issued an order stating:prohibition of any individual or collective travel, by any means, of any person claiming to be a supporter of the OGC Nice club or behaving as such, that is to say with badges, clothing, accessories in the colors of the club, to drive or park on public roads. And this in several perimeters of the communes of Lucciana (airport), Furiani (stadium) and Bastia (city center and port).

The decree also concerns the ban on “possess, transport and use any firecrackers or smoke bombs or any object that can be used as a projectile” on the communes of Furiani and Bastia. “Any violator of this ban is liable to criminal sanctions”specifies the text.

These various bans all come into force from Friday December 20 at 6 p.m. and will end on Sunday December 22 at 6 p.m.

In their decree, the state services “consider, firstly, that the movements of supporters of the Olympique Gymnaste Club de Nice (OGC Nice) are very frequently a source of disturbances to public order due to the violent behavior of certain supporters or individuals claiming to the quality of support of this team, manifested recurrently around the stadiums and in the city centers of the meeting places, as much by brawls between supporters as by violence against the police or jets of firecrackers, smoke bombs or agricultural bombs cause injury or damage”.

This decree also refers to the match played the day before – this Friday – also at Furiani between SC Bastia (L2) and RC Saint-Joseph (R1) on behalf of this same round of the Coupe de France. The authorities certainly feared possible incidents between Bastia and Nice supporters, known for their antagonism having often led to excesses in the past.

“Under these conditions, state services explain, the presence in Bastia and around the Armand-Cesari stadium from December 20, of people claiming to be supporters of OGC Nice or behaving as such, implies serious risks for the safety of people and property..

“It’s neither good nor bad news. indicates Jacques Colombani, the president of the Corten club. This is a prefectural decision. This is in relation to the antecedents of OGC Nice supporters with certain Corsican supporters. We take note of this and we concentrate solely on the organization of this party in Furiani. A priori, cwas a decision that was expected of both sides of the Mediterranean. It was something chose Who had been put in place, a priori, very quickly, at least in people’s minds, and which became formalized with the release orders.”

If the Furiani stadium currently hosts SC Bastia matches with part of the South stand closed due to partial closed doors, this will not be the case during the meeting between USC Corte (N3) and OGC Nice (L1), the measure only applying to Sporting, recently sanctioned by the disciplinary committee of the Professional Football League.

Currently, ticket sales continue for Saturday evening’s match.

“We’re still expecting quite a few spectators, confides President Colombani. Reservations are going well, so we hope to have a lot of people.”

In order to transport USCC supporters to Furiani, the city of Corte has set up a free bus transport service.