“This tifo had no place in this stadium.” The Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau condemned, Thursday November 7, on the social network lost 2-1 against Atlético Madrid.
The tifo in question, deployed by the Collectif ultras Paris (CUP) in the Auteuil stand, displayed the message “Free Palestine” surrounded by the colors of PSG, a bloody Palestinian flag, a flag of Lebanon, Jerusalem, tanks or a person wearing a keffiyeh. The “i” in the word Palestine was also redrawn in the shape of Israel, covered with a keffiyeh. The huge canvas was accompanied by a banner “War on the ground, but peace in the world”.
“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 enforce the rules”assured the Minister of the Interior. “I will demand accountability” at the club, he again insisted on Sud Radio, assuring that management should be able to ban this type of banner. In the opposite case, “there will be sanctions”he promises.
In a press release sent to AFP on Wednesday evening, Paris Saint-Germain assured that it “was not aware of the plan to display such a message”. The Parisian club also recalled 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”.
If this press release was quickly sent, it is because the club knows that it is exposed to sanctions. According to Article 16 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations, “all member associations and clubs are responsible for cases of misconduct by their supporters”. The text allows for sanctions “any provocative message unsuitable for a sporting event”notably “any provocative message of a political, ideological, religious or insulting nature”.
In article 44 of the safety and security regulations, the body which manages European football competitions also states that “the dissemination or promotion of political messages by any means whatsoever as well as any other form of political action inside or in the immediate vicinity of the stadium are strictly prohibited before, during and after the match”.
If the display of the banner took place during a European match, it would also have caused a reaction in the context of a Ligue 1 match. The LFP regulations provide for the ban on access to stadiums for people “in possession of banners, insignia, badges, leaflets or any other support whose purpose is to be seen by third parties for political, ideological, philosophical, offensive or commercial purposes or in particular of a racist or xenophobic nature”.
UEFA quickly made it known on Thursday morning that it would not initiate any proceedings against the Parisian club for this pro-Palestinian message. “There will be no disciplinary case since the banner displayed cannot be considered provocative or insulting in this specific case”his spokesperson told AFP. The instance therefore does not ban all political proclamations from speakers, but only those deemed provocative or offensive.
Not all clubs were entitled to the same leniency. Thus, the Scottish club Celtic Glasgow was sanctioned in the fall of 2023 with a fine of 17,500 euros, recalls the Associated Press agency, because its supporters had brandished hundreds of Palestinian flags, including the one red and white of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, during a meeting, already, facing theAtlético Madrid. A judged message “provocative of an offensive nature”UEFA ruled.
