Riots overshadow the Europa Conference League game between OGC Nice and 1. FC Köln. What happened and why did it happen? A reconstruction.
The prefect of Alpes-Maritimes departmentsin which Nice is located, sees the fans of 1. FC Köln as the sole culprits, Nice’s coach Lucien Favre also protects his club’s supporters. The supporters of OGC only reacted to the violence of the visiting fans.
The fact that supporters of the Bundesliga club became violent can be clearly established on the basis of eyewitness reports and video material. Cologne’s managing director Christian Keller already acknowledged this in a first statement and announced drastic consequences.
But only the guest fans, even in terms of tenor Everyone Blaming supporters of Cologne for the riots is misleading. This is shown by a reconstruction of Thursday (September 8th, 2022), which is based on those same eyewitnesses, media reports, official statements and video material.
Tickets on sale
In order to be able to better assess the incidents in the city, in front of and in the stadium, the time before the match day must also be considered. On August 27th the Europa conference league announced. 1. FC Köln, who played more often in the second division than in the European Cup in the past two decades, led the first game to OGC Nice. A dream destination on the French Riviera for fans who love to travel anyway.
The OGC stadium holds about 35,600 spectators. Since the guests in European competitions are entitled to a contingent of five percent, the people of Cologne could hope for fewer than 2,000 tickets. However, OGC left in the open On-linesold that tickets for blocks intended for home fans could also be bought from Germany.
According to information from the sports show, the problem was recognized and it was discussed between the two clubs that the Cologne team could use the adjacent grandstand behind a goal in addition to the small guest block separated by Plexiglas panes.
Skirmishes at the edge of the fan march
It is estimated that around 8,000 FC fans were in Nice on Thursday, most of whom also had tickets. At noon, almost all Cologne supporters gathered at a well-known fountain in the city. Eyewitnesses report that it was peaceful. However, the mayor of Nice complained about the piles of rubbish that had been left behind, and he wanted to charge 1. FC Köln with the removal.
In the afternoon – the later postponed kick-off was planned for 6.45 p.m. – a fan march started along the beach promenade to the stadium, which is more than ten kilometers from the center.
During this march, skirmishes are said to have broken out between the two fan camps, including in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant. There is also talk of knife attacks. However, the sources of the sports show only heard about this via the news and hearsay.
Escalation at the stadium
The opinions of the eyewitnesses from the Cologne camp are unanimous that the escalation with broad attacks began hours before kick-off in front of the stadium. OGC supporters ran up to Cologne residents with batons and also threw e-scooters at them.
When entering the stadium, the local stewards are said to have been surprised by the mass of Cologne fans. Possibly also against the background of what happened before the final of the Champions League on May 28th in Paris, when there were bad scenes at the entrance due to lengthy controls and incorrect information from security authorities, gates are said to have been opened and at least many fans were allowed into the stadium without identity and ticket checks. A representative of the French police union also criticized this negligence on Friday. He claimed that too few security personnel were present.
Few security staff, few police
In the stadium, which is also proven by photos, only a few stewards blocked the way from the stands with the FC fans to the main stand. They were no obstacle when mostly hooded FC fans stormed into the grandstand.
This is where people come into play who, for the sake of simplicity, have been referred to as FC fans up to this point. Because among the storming rioters were – some say above all – hooligans and ultras of the group “supras auteuil”. This supported the Paris club Saint Germainbut was banned by the French Interior Ministry in 2010 after a standoff with rival PSG ultras that left one person dead.
Alliance from Cologne, Paris and Dortmund
Despite the ban, the group continued to operate and continued their friendship with two ultra groups of 1. FC Köln, the “Wilden Horde” and the “Coloniacs”. That members of the suprajust like friends of the people of Cologne hooligans from Borussia Dortmund, traveling to the game in Nice, was known in the scene and should have reached the ears of the OGC and the French security authorities.
A more than seven-minute video, which is available to the sports show, shows the PSG/Cologne/Dortmund alliance’s block storm, followed by a fight with Nice fans, without the police intervening during this time. Few folders were present. A video shows them beating and even throwing objects at visitors.
Questionable role of “supras auteuil”
It is undisputed that people from Cologne were among the perpetrators. The excessive aggression should, however, significantly from the “supras auteuil” went out, who would have visited a stadium again for the first time in many years. In addition, according to the assumption of fans familiar with the scene, at least one victim of a knife attack on the day of the game in Nice is said to be a member of the “supras” have been. This could explain the aggression.
In an official statement, PSG condemned the incidents in Nice and pointed out that the group had been banned for 12 years.
In the course of the block storm, a fan fell from the middle tier to the lower tier. Videos show him wearing a balaclava in the colors of Paris St-Germain. The assumption is therefore obvious that he too “supras” belongs. The tussle over a burning Bengalo probably led to the incident, which is said to have been minor for the fallen man despite the height of the fall of around five meters.
Fewer than 100 rioters were involved in the storm. When they returned to the Cologne grandstand, they were insulted and greeted with chants: “We are from Cologne and you are not!” This is also documented by videos, an attempt was even made to pull the balaclavas off the aggressors’ faces.
Storm also from fans from Nice
Another storm erupted later in the other long stand, this time the aggression coming from Nice supporters. Due to the plexiglass protection and the fact that there were no ultras and hooligans in the actual guest block, there were obviously no major arguments.
According to eyewitnesses, it was striking that significantly more police were seen leaving the stadium than before the game. This could support the thesis that the kick-off was pushed back by almost an hour to call for reinforcements. Nothing is known about violent clashes after the game, including in the city.