Racism and Violence: Two French Fan Groups Ordered Disbanded

By: Laurie | April 19th, 2008

Do you think it’s coincidence that both of the French ultra groups which were banned yesterday for racist acts and other problems are supporters of teams on my “facing relegation” list? Or does supporting bad teams make fans act out?

Regardless of the cause, France is attempting to crack down on racism and violence in football. The latest official act? Disbanding supporters groups of FC Metz, a team in a little town on the German border, and of Paris St. Germain (PSG) in Paris, under a two-year-old law meant to fight hooliganism. Both teams have come under fire recently for their fans’ racist acts.

Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said the far-right fans were involved in several racist incidents at the clubs’ stadiums. The groups are the Boulogne Boys at PSG and The Faction at the eastern city of Metz.

A commission recommended the move Thursday to help prevent violence at sports venues.

The Boulogne Boys drew headlines after a March 29 match when a banner insulted people from northern France. The Faction fans at Metz shouted racial insults at a Moroccan player from Valenciennes in February.

Paris has a long history of poor behavior from ultra groups. Most recently?

Fans unfurled a 25-meter-long banner proclaiming “Welcome to the Pedophiles, Welfare-Scroungers and Inbreds.” It was…a reference…to the opposing team Lens from France’s economically depressed north.

The photo is of a portion of the banner. In French it reads “Pédophiles, chômeurs, consanguins : bienvenue chez les Ch’tis.” “Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis” is the name of a French film about an upper-class Frenchman transferred to a northern city. The English title they gave it was “Welcome to the Sticks.” Ch’tis is a reference to the people and dialect of Northern France. It’s used here as kind of an extreme-lower-class reference. Think: US Appalachia stereotype.

So here’s my question: What happens to racist fans when racist ultra groups are disbanded? Do they disappear? Miraculously stop being racist? Will this solve all the problems? How do you force fans to abandon racist attitudes and stereotypes?

This act may be a step in the right direction. But I still wouldn’t want to be a member of a racial minority playing at Parc des Princes.

At least not yet.