“I got away with it because I’m white”: In Lyon, violently attacked supporters testify

A happy end to the match for most of the supporters at Groupama Stadium this Sunday evening: Olympique Lyonnais has just beaten FC Nantes two goals to zero in Ligue 1. But in the stands, some information tarnishes the favorable score: ultras attacked others in the North bend, territory known to be occupied by the Bad Gones, one of the largest groups of French supporters. The Six-Nine Pirates (SNP), a very young group of Lyon supporters installed since the start of the season in block 439, at the top right of the North bend, were violently beaten up as told by L’Équipe. The latter stand out in the Lyon landscape: without asserting anti-fascist or anti-racist positions, these supporters claim “cosmopolitan” values, “open to all” and “contrary to those of other groups of Lyon supporters”. An obvious reference to the Lyon stands, which for years have welcomed far-right supporters, some neofascists or even neo-Nazis, others identitarian, whether with the Bad Gones in the North or with the Lyon 1950s in the South bend. StreetPress devoted an episode of our Kop series to these more than radical ultras, while racialized supporters are frequently victims of insults and intimidation.

Until the 75th minute, the match was going “well”, according to Alex (1), member of the SNP. Their position at the very top of the stadium allows fans to observe the rest of the stands. As the match draws to a close, they begin to see “groups moving back and forth” in the stands of the north turn, on the Bad Gones side. “From the balcony, we see around 150 people, hooded and clearly there to fightand who are getting ready to wait for us at the release,” explains Alex, who details:

“There are barely fifty of us, and not fighters. »

Forced to leave the stadium, the group descends among the families who make up the rest of their sector. In front of gate X, a hundred ultras are waiting for them. “They charged directly, the majority of the group was able to get back into the stadium, but three of us got stuck, and we got beaten up,” remembers Alex. “They gassed us, one of us was stabbed deep in the thigh. I have a cut of about fifteen centimeters on the back of my thigh, superficial but still very present. » Alex did not go to the hospital, unlike the second injured person.

“We got beaten up. I think I got away with it because I’m white » explains the supporter:

“The other two who were with me are Arabs, they got smashed. I clearly got through it thanks to my skin color. »

Not the first attack

This is not the first time that the SNPpresent for just a few months, are targeted by a radical fringe of ultras from Olympique Lyonnais. On September 26, after OL’s meeting with the Greeks Olympiakos, an “ambush” was set on some of their members, leaving “several injured”. In a press release published on October 7, the SNP denounce “serious dysfunctions” with security which had nevertheless “warned the club of the presence of the attacking group on the square”. They call for a “firm reaction from the club”. OL was also aware of the tensions between the SNP and the Lyon 1950s, where far-right activists of all persuasions meet, because in mid-August he moved the Six-Nine Pirates from the South bend to the North bendafter only six months of cohabitation.

HAS SEE ALSO : Our investigation into the far-right ultras in Lyon

However, there is no question for the Six-Neuf Pirates of giving up: “If we leave now, they will have won,” explains Alex, “but OL really need to do something.” According to him, the stewards “condon” the violence of far-right activists so as to “not have problems”. “One of them told me that we knew very well that they were going to be there, as if we were the ones at fault in this story,” he sighs. On Twitter, the general director of OL declared that “violence, whatever it may be, has no place at OL”, and that the club “very strongly condemns the clashes and attacks which took place” at the stadium this Sunday. The members of the SNP beaten planned to file a complaint, more out of principle than out of hope that their attackers would be prosecuted: all were hooded.

(1) The first name has been changed.