In a press release on Wednesday evening, PSG indicated “that they were not aware of the plan to display such a message”.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau condemned on Thursday the message in support of Palestine deployed the day before by PSG supporters at the Parc des Princes before the Champions League match against Atlético Madrid.
“I ask PSG to explain themselves and the clubs to ensure that politics does not damage sport, which must always remain a catalyst for unity,” wrote Bruno Retailleau on his X account. “This tifo n had no place in this stadium, and such messages are also prohibited by the regulations of the League and UEFA If this were to be repeated, it will be necessary to consider banning tifos for clubs which do not. not follow the rules.”
“It’s unacceptable,” he insisted again on Sud Radio before ensuring that there was not yet “a meeting fixed” with the club in the capital.
“I want to know more, to know how this tarpaulin arrived, how it could have been deployed… I had the police chief tell me what had happened,” continued the Minister of the Interior, who promises sanctions if PSG does not crack down.
The Minister of Sports, Gil Avérous, also denounced on X “unacceptable excesses in the stands of our stadiums”, believing that “PSG has the responsibility to set an example”. Conversely, the leader of La France insoumise, Manuel Bompard, condemned the “scandalous criminalization” of support for the Palestinian and Lebanese people, affirming that “messages of peace have their place” in a football stadium.
On the benches of La France insoumise, many of them supported the initiative of the Parisian supporters. “Shame on all those who invoke the false + neutrality + of sport,” MP Claire Lejeune reacted on X. Antoine Léaument congratulated “the supporters who make France shine in the peace camp”.
“It is not a message of peace but a call to hatred”, reacted in the evening the president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France, Yonathan Arfi, denouncing a “scandalous banner”, with “a card where the “The State of Israel no longer exists.”
Before Paris-Atlético, which ended in a 2-1 defeat for the Parisians, the Collectif ultras Paris (CUP) held a tifo with the message “Free Palestine”, around the red and blue colors of PSG, with a flag bloodied Palestinian, the flag of Lebanon, Jerusalem, tanks or even a person wearing a keffiyeh. The immense canvas bearing drawings and covering the entire Auteuil stand topped a banner “War on the ground but peace in the world”.
“Paris Saint-Germain recalls that the Parc des Princes is – and must remain – a place of communion around a common passion for football and firmly opposes any message of a political nature in its stadium,” assured the Parisian club.
recuteau PSG Champions League
