The clashes between fans of Cologne and Nice left 18 injured, one of them seriously, this Thursday at the Allianz Arena stadium in the French city, in the run-up to a match of the Conference League which was delayed an hour due to these incidents.
Hundreds of Cologne fans with their faces covered, among the more than 8,000 present in the Ray stand of the French stadium, invaded other stands to confront the local fans.
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the prefecture of the Maritime Alps confirmed that it was the German fans who “charged” the locals. A pitched battle broke out in the middle of the stands, with fans attacking others with chairs and metal bars ripped from the stadium, AFP journalists present confirmed.
A fan located in the Colonia stands was hospitalized in “absolute emergency” after a fall of more than five meters between the first and second levels of the stands. His life is in danger, reported the prefecture.
“The man suffered a five-meter fall between the first and second levels of the stands. The accident occurred in the midst of incidents in the stadium,” he told AFP. benoit huber, cabinet director of the Alpes-Maritimes prefecture, adding that “calm had returned” before the start of the clash.
A PSG fan
“Very drunk”, this man was in fact a Paris Saint-Germain fan, the prefecture told AFP.
This information confirms the statements of various sources about the presence in the stands of fans of the club from the French capital, showing the colors of the German team.
The match finally kicked off at 7:40 p.m. (5:40 p.m. GMT), an hour after the originally scheduled time. Then a flag with the message ‘Supras Auteuil’, a PSG ultra group, could be seen in the German stands, an AFP journalist confirmed.
Following an announcement in German asking Cologne fans to calm down, the captain of Nice, the Brazilian Dantetook the microphone and spoke to his fans: “I’m counting on you to be able to play this match, also on your support.”
The French Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudea-Casteradeclared that “our sport has been soiled”.
“I’m tired, really tired, that our sport is dirty in this way, that we can no longer say that we are going to go to the stadium with the children in a serene and safe way”, lamented the minister.
On the afternoon of this Thursday, before moving to the stadium, German fans damaged monuments in the city and painted tram stations. Nice city council said it will analyze the damage and ask Colonia to pay.
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AFP
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