Sevilla fans who go to this Tuesday’s Champions League match against Lens risk a 6-month prison sentence and a fine of 30,000 euros if they fail to comply with the decree published this Tuesday by the Prefecture of Pas from Calais (north).
This order, to which EFE had access this Monday, prohibits the presence of “Sevilla fans or those who behave as such” from 10 a.m. on Tuesday the 12th until 3 a.m. on Wednesday the 13th in various areas of the city of Lens and its surroundings. The Prefecture maintained that this ban is due to “a real and serious risk of confrontation between the fans of both clubs.” In the case of non-compliance, the order contemplates the application of the corresponding sanctions provided for in the Sports Law, up to 6 months in prison and a fine of 30,000 euros.
The provision became known after this Sunday the French Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, announced in an interview that he was going to prohibit the arrival of fans of the Spanish club to Lens, as part of the measures that the Government is adopting to try to stop the recent rampant violence in French football, which left a fan dead earlier this month.
The news was received with stupor in Seville. It is estimated that between 300 and 400 fans of the Andalusian team were going to go to the Bollaert-Delelis stadium. Sevilla announced this Monday the presentation of an “urgent appeal”, together with the National Association of French Fans, against the resolutions of the French Government and the Prefecture of Pas-de-Calais to prohibit the presence of Sevilla fans in their match. of the Champions League this Tuesday against Lens and its transit through different areas of that city.
The Andalusian club reported in the early hours of this Monday afternoon that with this appeal, which it is going to file before the French Justice jointly with the ‘Association Nationale des Supporters’ – which includes the fans of the French country -, it intends for them to remain those governmental prohibitions decreed by the French authorities without effect.
“Sevilla FC will present an urgent appeal, together with the ‘Association Nationale des Supporters’, against the administrative resolution to prohibit access to any person who comes as a Sevilla FC fan to several areas of several cities, including Lens and Arras, and against that of the French Ministry of the Interior last night to prohibit flights,” he said in a statement. The Spanish club hopes to have a “resolution as soon as possible” on this appeal, “but does not rule out that it could even be at dawn.”
He also stated that “he is aware of the difficulty of changing the criteria of the French administration, but he will put all his legal and diplomatic efforts to try” so that his fans “can be at the match against Lens.”
The Sevilla president, José Castro, described this Monday as an “atrocity” the French Government’s ban on its fans attending the match against Lens this Tuesday, on the last day of the group stage of the Champions League and in which Both teams are playing to finish third and go to the Europa League.
The Prefectural decree, signed by the Government delegate in the Pas de Calais, Jacques Billant, establishes extensive prohibition zones for Sevilla fans, which include not only the surroundings of the stadium, but also the center of Lens and areas of surrounding cities, such as Arras and Liévin.
In addition to the risk of confrontation, the provision mentions the terrorist threat, which in itself mobilizes many police officers who could not be deployed to this Tuesday’s game, and that Pas de Calais is an area of ??”strong migratory pressure” for those who try to cross the border. United Kingdom.
The Spanish Embassy in France has also acknowledged that it is “concerned” about the effect of this measure on its citizens, while Lens fans and their own coach have interpreted it as a sign of impotence on the part of the French authorities to organize major sporting events. , less than 8 months before the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The Council of State, the highest court of administrative justice in France, could intervene to suspend this strict prohibition. This is what happened this weekend, when there were several movements of fans that had been prohibited by a government decision, reversed by the highest court when it was considered “disproportionate” after a lawsuit from the National Fans Association.
In this way, Lens fans traveled to Montpellier, Reims fans to Nice, Auxerre fans to Troyes and Bordeaux fans to Angoulême.
