ASSE will play 2 Ligue 1 matches in its home in January. These 2 meetings will have the particularity of being played in front of a limited audience. Indeed, the Stéphanois Kops will be closed against Reims, this Saturday, and against Nantes, in 2 weeks. Pierre Barthélémy, lawyer for the National Supporters Association, spoke about the LFP sanctions.
LFP sanctions have become a habit in recent years for Saint-Etienne supporters. Following the pyrotechnic devices used against OM, during the 14th day of Ligue 1, the LFP decided to close the Kops North and South for 2 matches. That evening, ASSE lost 2-0 against OM, in a match where the Stéphanois never really existed against the runners-up in the championship. The reception of Reims and Nantes will mark the 2nd and 3rd matches this season where ASSE will play without any of its 2 Kops at home. The first of the season in the Chaudron against Le Havre was also played in the absence of these two stands.
The match was marked by spectacular pyrotechnic festivities. The South Kop celebrated Saint Barbara, while the Magic Fans Avant-Garde celebrated its 25th anniversary in the North Kop. Around 450 smoke bombs were lit by the 2 Kops together. Yet another crack at the end of the match coming from the Kop Nord caused a thick cloud of smoke. This density even forced the referee to briefly interrupt the match.
The LFP too severe with ASSE?
Pierre Barthélémy, lawyer for the National Association of Supporters, spoke for Le Progrès on this subject: “There is a sort of relentlessness from the disciplinary commission against the Saint-Etienne kops and the Loire Brigade. We have the impression that the League's desire is to go into a standoff with pyrotechnics… We have the impression that pyrotechnics are treated in the same way, no matter how they are used. When we have the same sanction for festive pyrotechnics, with a magnificent tifo, as when someone fires a mortar into the visitor's parking lot, we don't really understand”
