The shocking scenes before, during and after the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid at the Stade de France in Paris last year were no huge surprise to seasoned observers of French football.
There has been great unhappiness at the conduct of police - who were heavily criticised, including for using teargas and pepper spray on fans without any justification, in the independent report into the unrest that UEFA ordered in the aftermath of the final – at stadiums across the country for a long time.
The trouble which marred European club football’s showpiece occasion prompted the Ministry of Sport in France to enter into talks with all of the stakeholders in the game in an overdue attempt to improve the match-day experience and ensure there is no repeat of the shameful events in future.
Discussions between the government and managers, players, referees and supporters’ representatives resulted in several long-term objectives being established – one of which was “supervised experimentation with pyrotechnic devices”.
There have been numerous alarming incidents involving pyrotechnics at matches in France in the past decade as the ultra culture there has grown. The worst of them occurred in 2016 when the Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes suffered a temporary loss of hearing after Metz fans threw firecrackers at him and his club doctor on the pitch.
However, heavy fines and points deductions have done nothing to address what has become an increasingly prevalent and concerning problem.
L’Equipe reported last week that a three-year trial will see “professional sports clubs, in close collaboration with supporters' associations and with the agreement of local authorities, organise pyrotechnic animations carried out by supporters in a predetermined, supervised and secure framework".
Opponents of “safe pyro” argue that it legitimises flares, rockets, smoke bombs and strobes and actually increases the likelihood of them being set off illegally in packed stands. They also warn of the serious health risks to those using them as well as to people with medical conditions such as asthma and epilepsy in other areas of a ground.
Still, this move has been welcomed by many in France. Bruno Genesio, the manager of fifth-placed Ligue 1 club Rennes, is one high-profile figure who has voiced his approval. “I really like flares,” he said. “It creates an atmosphere. We need that in football, with the supporters, the flags, the light and the pyrotechnics.”
Jonathan Johnson, a French-based football expert who works for CBS Sports, believes the chaos that unfolded at Champions League final last May as the world looked on has prompted both the federal and football authorities to take affirmative action in a bid to clean up the image of the sport.
“French football’s relationship with their supporters has reached breaking point,” he said. “They have to figure out the best way for people to attend matches safely. But at the same time they have to be careful not to alienate fans.
“While flares contribute to quite an attractive spectacle, there have been some bad incidents. They in turn have created some quite tense scenes. That has put a lot of pressure on the policing of matches. As I say, it has reached breaking point.
“There have been awful incidents with pyrotechnics over the years. You just have to look back on some of the recent clashes between Saint-Etienne and Lyon to see how it can go wrong. People don’t just use flares, they use homemade explosive devices.
“There was a terrible incident a few years ago where a security guard lost a couple of fingers when he picked up one of those devices after it was thrown onto the pitch during one of those derby matches.
“But there has to be some sort of compromise. The more heavy-handed the authorities are when it comes to the use of flares by fans at matches, the more it makes aggressive and nasty altercations likely.
“What they are trying to do here, reading between the lines, is to make pyrotechnics less of a forbidden fruit. I think the feeling is that if the use of flares is not prohibited it will contribute to the spectacle and fans will not show their frustrations about how games are policed.
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“It will be welcomed by fans who like to express themselves with a lot of colour and noise. It is going to be done in predetermined, controlled and secure areas. It is trying to move away from illegal and unsafe use of pyrotechnics. It is using common sense.”
Details about how the officially sanctioned displays will work, other than that approval will have to be sought and granted at least a month in advance, are in short supply at this early stage. However, the government hope they will lead to “the disappearance of the illegal and unsafe use of pyrotechnic articles in the stands of the stadiums".
“Pyrotechnics in enclosed areas is a non-starter,” said Johnson. “It will not happen at any Lille home games (their Stade Pierre-Mauroy has a retractable roof) for example. But if it is not an enclosed space there is an argument that that kind of show of support should be allowed if it is done sensibly.
“When Saint-Etienne played Manchester United in the Europa League at Old Trafford a few years ago, people there were up in arms about how their fans liked to use green flares and set off green smoke canisters. Supporters of Premier League clubs are not used to that because the atmosphere at their games is so sanitised.
“But a lot of French fans don’t want it to be such a clean product, they want something a little different. I do think the more controlled use of pyrotechnics means they become less of a tool for those fans to express discontent.
“Players and coaches in France also like the atmosphere that is created. The less sexy fixtures need a boost. But in the big games it is something special. It isn’t necessarily intimidating, but it is impressive, awe-inspiring. A lot of players and coaches are in favour of keeping that.”
When Celtic and Rangers announced last month that no away fans would be given tickets for the Glasgow rivals’ final two cinch Premiership encounters at Parkhead and Ibrox this season due to security concerns, it dismayed many in the Scottish game.
But there have been no travelling supporters at the biggest Ligue 1 matches in France for some time now because of the friction which exists between police and supporters.
Johnson is hopeful that trialling the controlled use of pyrotechnics will just be the first of a series of measures which will make matches more comfortable and enjoyable for spectators and enhance the worldwide image of the game there at the same time.
“What has put French football under the microscope to a massive degree at this point in time is what happened at the Champions League final last year,” he said.
“That transported everything we have known domestically for a number of years now onto the global stage. People from all around the world were tuning in to discover that events outside the stadium had taken catastrophic, potentially fatal, turns.
“Fans being able to use pyrotechnics more freely will be welcomed here. But I don’t actually think it is the biggest problem in French football. There is a long way to go before fans will feel satisfied with the way that matches are handled from a security standpoint. Particularly with regards to being able to travel to away matches.
“One of the big issues that fans in France have is that if they want to attend a match against a big rival away, a PSG v Marseille, a Saint-Etienne v Lyon, those kind of games, they can’t. Only home fans are allowed to attend these so-called high risk fixtures. That has been the case for years now. The local police will issue an order that means no away fans are allowed to attend.
“Unfortunately, that means the mega fixtures on the French calendar have no away fans. And these are the games that French football needs to boost its exposure on the continental stage, improve the image of its product and catch up with some of the top leagues in Europe.
“It is maybe a step in the right direction in terms of boosting the image of French football at a time when they are trying to increase the amount of money they make from both their domestic and international TV rights.”
Johnson continued: “The policing of certain big matches remains a bigger problem than pyrotechnics. It all comes back to the same issue for me. It is not the people who are using the flares who are the problem, it is the people who are policing them.
“There is a danger that something like this is designed to appease the fans and move the attention away from the heavy-handed handling of big games by the French police. But that also needs to be addressed.
“It is an olive branch, a step in the right direction, a move towards making French football more pleasurable for every type of fan. But there is a long way to go. Fans will not be happy if they are allowed to use flares but continue to be treated like cattle.”
