During the last home game in Rennes, against Sochaux, the agents of the Quick Response Section (SIR / “Section d'intervention Rapide”) made their first appearance in the Stade de la Route de Lorient. A premiere that wasn’t appreciated by the Fan association Unvez Kelt, victims of the policemen’s over-zealous reaction after a smoke torch was lit in the stands.
Created on September 8th, the Rennes quick response section has got the duty to “fight hooliganism in and around the Stade de la Route de Lorient”, website Rennes.lemensuel.com reports. Rennes, certainly not known for the offensive behaviour of its supporters, is the third French town to set up a force of this kind. In the next months, every town with a team playing in Ligue 1 or Ligue 2 will see the arrival of the blue tracksuits policemen in their Stadium, on a request from the Home Ministry. In Rennes, the section is composed of 28 agents, equipped with a camera integrated in their t-shirt, lachrymator gel and a telescopic stick, patrolling in groups of six in and around the Stadium. “They are here to prevent and dissuade. In the event of infractions, they will be able to collect proofs with their camera. They are also entitled to take action if needed.”, explained Bertand Almodoval, the local manager of the SIR to Le Mensuel de Rennes at their inauguration. At the Stade Rennais, Patrick Fretel relativized the role of the police agents: “This is a work in partnership. The SIR will not be an independent militia in the Stadium”. “This police agents are not expected to show an over-zealous attitude at the first smoke-torch”, the Club’s security manager then explained to Le Mensuel.
For their first appearance during the encounter between Stade Rennes and Sochaux, on September 11th, the SIR showed exactly the opposite, reading the Press Release issued by the Unvez Kelt, the club’s second supporters group after the game. The group are eager to justify their protestation at the end of the game: After they lit up their “first smoke torch of the season” to “celebrate the good beginning of the season by the club”, “we have been put under heavy pressure by the SIR, who threatened us to take the fingerprints of all members of the group if we refused to denounce the responsible”. “Treated like criminals, we decided to show our protestation”, the group explains, “While leaving the Stadium, we came across the SIR that made sure to film us all like dangerous specimens. Some of us then tried to come closer and talk, but they had to back off in front of the threatening agents, taking out and moving their sticks with the traditional mocking grim of the authorities.”
Scandalised by the provoking attitude of the agents, despite the confessions by the author of the lighting, the Unvez Kelt is regretting that the “arrival of this new section has been bringing fuel to the fire in a Stadium, City and context among the quietest in France”. Despite their interdiction in the Stadiums for safety reasons, the use of smoke torches remains a tradition for the Hard-core fans of French teams. Each week, the League’s discipline commission gives out multiple fines to Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 clubs (but doesn’t communicate on the topic anymore) for the introduction and use of the pyrotechnic devices, which the Ultras consider as an asset for the animation and the beauty of the Stadium. Despite this, the incidents linked to the use of smoke torches are extremely rare. And the creation of the SIR might trouble the relationship (good until now) between the Rennes supporters, the club’s security management and the league, when it wasn’t really necessary. On their side, the Unvez Kelt supporters announced they would probably “follow up on these events during the next home game against Toulouse”.
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