France: Rama Yade Fights Against Hooligans

Yeah, Tyrone and Imani, soccer hooligans are cutting up again in Europe. La Depeche (France) interviews the French Secretary of State for Sport and moderate-conservative - who is also the former French Secretary of State for Human Rights - about sports violence (article in French). On Friday, she held an emergency meeting on violence in football. After the death of Brice Taton, the Toulouse fan who died on Tuesday after an attack in Belgrade, Serbia, Secretary Yade responded by announcing measures to prevent soccer violence.

This afternoon you will be in Toulouse to attend the Lorient-TFC match? Yes. I wish to attend the tribute to Brice Taton. Brice was a strong supporter and passionate, he practiced with his football club, Forza Viola. I was shocked by the barbaric aggression of which he suffered. The day of Brice Taton's death, I interrupted my visit to Lebanon to be with his parents in Belgrade. They are wonderful people who show great courage and great dignity. Together with Olivier Sadran, the President of TFC, I also met with Serbian authorities, including President Boris Tadic, whose distress at the tragedy was sincere.

To die for soccer in 2009, is permissible? It's not normal and should not get normal! Everything must be done to prevent this from happening again. That's why I met with Serb ministers in charge of the investigation, including the Minister of Interior and Minister of Justice and Attorney. I asked for exemplary punishment to be inflicted on Brice Taton's attackers. Ten suspects have been arrested, but two remain. In Belgrade, the prosecutor told me that abusers risk a 40-year prison sentence for this barbaric aggression. It was a massacre. This didn't happen in a stadium, but outside, several hours before the game. Nothing can justify this. My Serbian counterpart will hold a conference at the European level. I will go in Brice Taton's memory.

On Friday, you held an emergency meeting on violence in sport. Is there a resurgence of the phenomenon? The violence has changed. It no longer operates only in stadiums, but outside, in the central cities. It is also increasingly expressed between players and leaders of their own club. The amateur clubs aren't spared of violence! On September 13, during the FSC-Entraigues Bollene match in the Vaucluse, a player pulled out a gun to shoot another player who took a bullet in the abdomen. We must eradicate this violence, and the response must be collective. For this reason, I met on Friday with Jean-Pierre Escalettes, president of the French Football Federation, Fernand Duchaussoy, president of the Amateur Football League, Frederic Thiriez, president of the Football League, Jean-Pierre Louvel, president of the Union of professional football clubs, as well as representatives of the Chancellery and the Ministry of Interior so that we all work hand in hand.

The Tour de France each year brings millions of spectators in the right mood. Why does violence crystallize in soccer? Soccer is a sport that has always been extremely popular. Through soccer, is the cultural identity of every club, every city, every country that we defend. Some say, and philosopher Michel Serres is one of them, that soccer was born so men could compete around a ball rather than make war. Soccer is now a victim of its popularity. But we must not allow a minority to engage in acts of violence.

You reach out to fans... Sure! We are not here to condemn or blame the popular roots of soccer. It is a minority that is concerned, I repeat. By the end of the year, I want to hold the first National Congress supporters' associations leading to the creation of a federation which will liaison with government. In Toulouse, things have gone quite well. Olivier Sadran, head of TFC, did an excellent job with the fans. Toulouse, home of rugby, knows no such violence. In the stadium, you do not put fans in cages. We must succeed in pacifying the modern game.