Jean-Michel Aulas on the attack. In an interview with L’Équipe, the former president of the club discusses the stone-throwing of the Olympique Lyonnais bus on Sunday before the clash between OM and OL at the Vélodrome stadium, attacking Olympique of Marseille, according to him partly responsible for the incidents even if they took place outside the enclosure. “There is a share of responsibility of football, of the club, and of course of public security in this matter. Especially since it was predictable. When there were incidents in the past in Lyon, the leaders did not hide behind events that we could not control,” explained the leader.
He also questions the system of public authorities supposed to protect the visitor bus on the way to the Vélodrome stadium. “We see that the police escort is very limited. She is even arrested at one point when we arrive in front of the famous bar where the supporters are gathered. I am not aware of the details, but I can only note that the escort is very inferior to that which I experienced in Marseille or even in Saint-Étienne, where the police forces always took great precautions to avoid these kinds of incidents,” he confides.
SEE ALSO – The legendary moments of OL under the Aulas presidency (1987-2023)
Aulas refutes any idea of a postponement of the match on the tenth day and suggests that he wanted OL to be declared winners on the green carpet: “The match must not be postponed but that the sanctions fall, this time -this, definitively. If we postpone the match, we give the authors and those who watch them the opportunity to start again,” he warns. The fate of the match will be in the hands of the Professional Football League Competitions Commission this week. “I leave it to the people who have the responsibility to decide to do it in their soul and conscience. But there must be a very heavy sanction. Otherwise, next time there will be deaths. Fabio (Grosso, editor’s note) could have lost an eye,” adds the one who sits on the League’s board of directors.
Also read: OM-OL incidents: violence in football, time for zero tolerance
“JMA” also mentioned the incidents in the Vélodrome stadium caused by Lyon supporters. Several of them made Nazi salutes and uttered racist insults, including monkey cries. “It’s unacceptable,” replies Aulas. Most of the 600 Lyon supporters revolted against this small group of around fifteen people who inserted themselves into the system without the knowledge of the organizers. It’s unbearable. It’s easy to find the perpetrators, there are cameras. They must be judged and excluded.”
