14/01/2020
Support for our comrades.
COMMUNIQUE OFFICIEL DU MFC 1871
⏺ Sanction de la Fédération française de football contre le MFC 1871 pour" apologie de la haine "
⏺ Suspension de terrain d’un an ferme, avec repli sur terrain neutre à trouver à 20 km de la ville de Bobigny et 800 euros d'amende.
⏺Ouverture d'une enquête préliminaire conduite par le parquet de Paris.
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FRENCH FOOTBALL FEDERATION SANCTION AGAINST THE MFC 1871
Official press statement regarding the French Football Federation’s sanction against Menilmontant FC 1871
6th January 2020
"Apology of hatred", "deviant behavior and facts", "disorders", these are the terms used by the Disciplinary Commission of the District of Seine-Saint- Denis, which met on 18th December 2019.
Its extraordinary sanctions banned MFC 1871 from our current home ground in Bobigny, and mandated that all future home games must be played in a neutral ground at least “20km outside the city of Bobigny” for a period of one year. This was also accompanied by an €800 fine. This effectively expels us from the league - though we have appealed.
On 24th November 2019, Ménilmontant FC 1871 played Championnet Sports - at home - at the Motte stadium in Bobigny. At kickoff, supporters displayed a banner which quotes the words of Parisian rapper Hugo TSR “here we dream that the chickens are roasting”. In the same evening, MFC members attended a concert for the homeless which was headlined by the artist. Since the inception of MFC 1871, there have been numerous tifos and banners displayed at matches which reference the struggles of football supporters and our communities. Supporters’ banners sometimes utilise jokes, satire, or caricatures - and they have been received with understanding and a sense of humour by coaches, players, and supporters of both clubs, and even match officials.
The story of this banner should have ended at the match. However, it was reported to the authorities by nationalist activists of Paris Vox and other fascist sympathisers - they sought to get the picture banned on social media platforms as well as reported it to the police. It found a sympathetic ear with the Unité SGP-FO police union, who lodged a complaint against the club, which initiated a preliminary investigation for ‘apology of hatred’ by the Paris Prosecutor’s Office.
The Disciplinary Commission of District of Seine-Saint-Denis has therefore simply endorsed a legal qualification, which belongs to a court, to tackle the MFC sports season. It seems they were encouraged to do so by a letter from the police union.
This stadium ban is a calculated way to remove MFC 1871 from not only our district - but also from Paris and a large part of Île-de-France as a whole. Geographical restrictions notwithstanding, access to other grounds is made all the more difficult due to the lack of available time slots. While our first team compete to reach next league, we see these sanctions as a political attack; an attempt to capsize the MFC ship which has been sailing since 2014 - against all odds - in an ocean of increasingly sanitised modern football where money rules.
We have appealed, but that does not suspend this political sanction, applied for non-sporting reasons, which in the meantime have led to considerable impact to our fan-owned club. Our first home game is 26th January, and we must find a new ground before this date. We need all the help we can get! Please write to us if you have any leads!
Because you support this club from near or far, because you share our values and ethics, we had to inform you of the virulent attacks it is subject to. Pending the decisions of the Appeal Commission, as well as any legal fallout, Ménilmontant FC 1871 claims that it remains a club committed against police dominion over the whole society. Our members will remain defiant and united in adversity, ready to defend ourselves.
LONG LIVE POPULAR SPORT. THE HEART OF MFC - IT'S YOU
