Nice plunged into crisis after fans’ dissent goes too far in physical assault | Nice

Football is often lauded for its capacity to bring people together but in Nice, it has also laid bare its capacity to tear a city apart.

It’s a Sunday night, and the Nice players and staff have just landed back in the Côte d’Azur after another defeat, their sixth in a row in all competitions. It wasn’t just the loss but the manner of it, and who it came against. “We lost at Lorient, a team that should be relegated. We’re rubbish, we know it,” said a visibly-emotional Sofiane Diop as the midfielder pleaded with the travelling fans after the 3-1 loss on 30 November.

It wouldn’t be the Nice players’ only hostile interaction of the night. As they pulled in front of their training ground, they were greeted by approximately 400 fans, who made their displeasure at the ongoing situation known. Three individuals in particular were targeted: Terem Moffi, Jérémie Boga, and Florian Maurice.

Moffi was guilty of having smiled on camera during an interaction with his former president, Loïc Fery, after Nice’s defeat to Lorient; Boga was guilty of inviting Marseille fans into the Allianz Riviera last month during their 5-1 “spanking”, in Diop’s words, at the hands of their rivals; and Maurice, the sporting director, is, alongside president Fabrice Bocquet, who was not present at the ambush, seen as one of the main reasons for Nice’s fall from Champions League qualification last season to a relegation battle this time around.

Moffi and Boga were hit and spat at when alighting the team bus, while the manager, Franck Haise, revealed that some fans came in balaclavas armed with pétanque balls. “Did they bring them to play pétanque?” he asked.

Both players have been on sick leave since the incident, which was condemned by the club, the players (via a joint communique), the players’ union (the UNFP) and governing authority LFP, who announced that “it will join as a civil party in the complaints filed by the players”. An investigation has since been opened by the public prosecutor’s Office.

But support for the alleged victims has not been unanimous, and Haise has had to publicly reaffirm the gravity of the incident. “We can’t deny what happened. When I hear that it wasn’t anything much … Maurice was spat on and hit. Don’t tell me it didn’t happen,” he told L’Équipe.

Nice’s mayor, Christian Estrosi, leaning on the prefecture’s report which did not cite any “physical violence”, has sought to downplay the incident. “It is important not to add fuel to the fire or fuel a controversy that far exceeds the reality of the facts,” he said on X. But the former OGC Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivère, who left the club this summer and has since allied himself with the far-right candidate for the Nice mayorship, Éric Ciotti, bit back. “It is pointless to minimise [the events]: what happened does not match the club’s image,” said Rivère, who added that he “trusts” those at the club to “work to reopen dialogue and bring back unity”.

But it is a club, as well as a city, that is divided. There is a lingering feeling of anger and ambivalence from the Nice fans. The Allianz Riviera almost rang hollow during last weekend’s defeat against Angers but those in attendance made their thoughts felt, booing the players out on to the pitch and their every touch of the ball thereafter. It was the same story on Thursday night with less than 4,000 fans attending a 1-0 loss to SC Braga, their sixth loss in six in this season’s Europa League, which saw them crash out of the competition; they are now 18 games without a win in European competition, the longest run of any French club in history.

Even internally, there are signs of discord. Haise had already offered to be the “shock to the system” after the defeat against OM, offering to leave but not to resign. He was then on the verge of resigning after the incident on 30 November before changing his mind. “I am staying so that everyone assumes their responsibilities,” he said.

He cuts an isolated figure at a divided club. Before Sunday’s defeat to Lens (2-0), a ninth loss in a row in all competitions, he appeared in front of the media alone with his squad opting to boycott their media duties. “We all have to assume [our responsibilities]. It is their decision not come before you today. I would have preferred to be at home, too,” he said on Saturday.

Haise has been critical of his players but also of the club’s leadership. We understand that, since the start of the season, Nice have sought a public statement of commitment to the club from the owners, Ineos. It was only after the violence at the end of last month that a measly statement was finally coaxed. “I reaffirm Ineos’s strong commitment to the club, express my support for the President of OGC Nice, and renew my confidence in all of the club’s services as well as its sporting and administrative teams,” said the CEO of Ineos Sport, Jean-Claude Blanc.

But that statement came after Haise had already made his unhappiness at the radio silence known, stating that he only heard from Blanc three days after the incident outside the training ground. Blanc subtly struck back: “It is now required that all communications from the club’s various spokespersons be guided by the best interests of the OGC Nice institution, with consistent attention paid to maintaining unity and cohesion across all parts of the club.”

Nice, on the longest losing streak in their history, are an image of disunity from top to bottom, and there is an increasing feeling that it is only by tearing everything up that the pieces can fit together again.

Talking points

• “It was a mad match. I don’t think I’ve experienced anything like that in my career,” said Nabil Bentaleb after Auxerre and Lille shared seven goals and four red cards in one of the games of the Ligue 1 season so far. The latter took an early lead but then went down to 10 men before half-time when Nathan Ngoy was sent off. Auxerre made the most of their man advantage and equalised through Lassine Sinayoko, only for Clément Akpa’s red card to restore numerical parity. But Auxerre, unbeaten in their last three heading into the game, kept pushing and took the lead, only for a stunning Bentaleb strike and then a curled effort from Soriba Diaoune to restore Lille’s lead late on. It set up a frantic finish. Sinayoko scored from the spot to bring the game back to 3-3, but just three minutes later, Benjamin André’s goal, a fourth in the space of just nine minutes, settled it for Lille. It wouldn’t be the end of the drama, however, as Romain Perraud and Oussama El Azzouzi would then be sent off for butting heads. And breathe …

• Five defeats in the last six Ligue 1 games leave Monaco cut adrift from the leaders. Sébastien Pocognoli said his side “objectively deserved to beat” Marseille on Sunday. He will point to Lamine Camara’s controversially-disallowed goal for a Folarin Balogun offside in the buildup. Balogun had the ball in the back of the net later in the game, too, only for that too to be disallowed. Mason Greenwood scored the game’s sole goal two minutes later as OM kept touch with PSG and Lens. Monaco, however, go into the winter break nine points away from Lille, who occupy the final Champions League qualification spot. “Will we use [this performance] to rebel and continue putting in good performances, or will we look for excuses?” asked Pocognoli. The answer will determine their season.