uUnder the impression of the bad pictures, Steffen Baumgart did not want to talk at first before the return flight that night. Because he had to sit suspended in the stands at the Allianz Riviera stadium, the 1. FC Köln coach followed the terrible riots before the Conference League game at OGC Nice (1-1) at close range. “Parts of it happened right in front of him,” reported FC Managing Director Christian Keller: “It wasn’t nice to have to look at it.”
Immediately after the incidents, however, the processing of the incidents began. But no one wanted to draw hasty conclusions. The consequences for the club are “not yet foreseeable,” said Keller: “I don’t want to speculate either. There is certainly a wide range. ”This ranges from fines to conditions or possibly even ghost games. UEFA had not commented as of Friday morning.
1. FC Köln is on probation
“I know we’re on probation,” said Keller: “To be honest, I didn’t think about how long it was.” Because I didn’t expect something like that.” In 2017, at the opening game of the last Cologne European Cup season to date, UEFA had sentenced FC to an away ban for its fans after incidents at Arsenal and suspended this for two years on probation. Keller fears: “Once you’ve been conspicuous, you notice it.”
At that time, the judgment had lasted five and a half weeks, and this time the processing should not be easy. It starts with the question of what triggered the riot. Nice coach Lucien Favre had stated that his club saw no fault in himself and his fans. If Nice were sentenced to a ghost game, “that would be unfair,” said the long-time Bundesliga coach: “Because our fans are not at all to blame for what happened.”
The newspaper “Le Parisien” took a similar view: “It was the fault of the angry German fans who devastated part of Nice.” However, Nice fans have also attracted attention in the past. In August 2021, the Ligue 1 game against Olympique Marseille was canceled after a pitch attack.
The sports magazine “L’Équipe” doubted whether there were enough security forces on Thursday evening for the game against 1. FC Köln: “For this game they have been increased from 200 officers for a normal game to 300 officers. Is that enough? One can doubt that in view of the further course of the evening.” And “Nice-Matin” criticized: “The security services of the stadium were completely overwhelmed because they probably hadn’t expected such a red flood in the city and then in the stadium.”
FC managing director Keller held back with clear blame. “I ask for some time so that we can evaluate everything first,” he said: “I don’t want to guess who was to blame. And that’s not the point. That’s a catastrophe. But in the end, both sides didn’t cover each other with glory, regardless of who might have started and continued.” Regardless of the processing, Keller was annoyed and annoyed: “It really gets on my nerves.”
That’s why one thing is clear to the people of Cologne even before the detailed work-up. They will try “with all severity and determination” to identify those involved in the riots. “I don’t know if that was 50, 60 or 70. There were definitely very, very few,” said Keller. “But we will try everything to pull out as many as possible. And then we exclude them, they won’t do anything anymore.”
President Werner Wolf also promised that FC would “put all our strength into investigating these incidents and take action against the perpetrators with all consistency. We have an obligation to our many thousands of peaceful fans and to football.” According to the prefecture, 32 people were injured in the riots on Thursday evening before the start of the game. There was damage to property in the stadium. The fan shop had been attacked by rioters before.
The public prosecutor’s office in the southern French city initiated several investigations. The prosecution said on Friday in Nice that it was about joint damage to property at the official OGC fan shop in the stadium and joint violence on and in the stadium. She also mentioned bringing and throwing pyrotechnics in the stadium. Prosecutor Xavier Bonhomme emphasized that the investigations led by the department’s security authorities aim to identify and apprehend those responsible.
Around 10,000 supporters had accompanied the FC to the Cote d’Azur. And at noon, with a colorful and peaceful fan march, it actually provided for beautiful pictures. “These images remain,” said striker Steffen Tigges, who had given Cologne the lead: “They pushed us. Because it is not true that the few chaotic people stand for the club. The fans who created the right atmosphere represent the club.”
The goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe, who was often outstanding as in the weeks before, saw it similarly. “On the one hand, what happened there isn’t worth talking about because it doesn’t belong in football,” he said, adding: “On the other hand, you have to clearly distance yourself from something like that and say that these people in the Stadium have nothing to look for.
