Soccer slurs

It should have been one of the high points of an otherwise dismal season so far for French football club Paris St Germain (PSG) on Saturday as the team lifted the country's league cup (la coupe de la ligue) for the third time in the history of the 16-year competition.

Instead the stoppage-time penalty, which gave them a 2-1 victory over their rivals from the small industrial town of Lens in northern France, was overshadowed by events happening up on the stands.

At the beginning of the second half some Paris fans unfurled an enormous 30-metre banner carrying the slogan "Pédophiles, chômeurs, consanguins : bienvenue chez les Ch'tis" (Paedophiles, unemployed, inbreeds: welcome to the Ch'tis").

The reference was two fold. Firstly to a comedy film "Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis", a nickname given to the people of northern France, which is currently breaking box office records with over 15.5 million visitors since its release in late February.

And secondly a series of high profile courts cases involving paedophilia or child murders. Those include the Outreau case from 2001-2006 in which 18 people were wrongly accused, convicted or acquitted on the false allegations of one woman, and the recently opened trial of Michel Fourniret, a French serial killer who has confessed to kidnapping, raping and murdering nine girls in a span of 14 years during the 1980s and 90s.

The banner was in place for about six minutes and covered virtually the entire length of one of the stands at the showpiece national stadium Stade de France, where the match was being played.

Immediately following the final whistle to a game, which had produced plenty of action and a thrilling climax, the reactions from club managers, politicians and the football authorities was swift and overwhelming. Unfortunately most of it focused not on what had happened on the pitch, but disgust at the insult that had been brandished by some PSG fans.

Officials from both teams quickly condemned the banner, with the president of PSG, Alain Cayzac, issuing a formal apology and announcing that the club would be launching a civil suit. The deputy mayor of Lens, Guy Delcourt, has pressed charges for incitement of hate lodged on behalf of the town and demanded a replay of the game.

The Lens coach and former French international, Jean-Pierre Papin has asked the French football league to impose sanctions on PSG as they did on another first division club last month. Metz had a point docked from after the captain of the opposing team, Valenciennes, was racially abused during a league match.

Meanwhile the president league, Frédéric Thiriez, has promised swift action and an investigation has already been launched into the incident. Police are currently analysing surveillance camera tapes in an effort to identify the culprits.

So what should have been a celebration of the beautiful game has turned into yet another debate on how to control the behaviour of some fans and the responsibility of both the individual clubs and the league.

There still remain a number of unanswered questions - first and foremost of course is how a not insubstantial banner was able to make into the grounds in the first place. Security was tight before and after the match with almost 1,500 riot police on duty.

PSG "fans" come with a reputation. The club has a violent following of over four thousand largely far right and overtly racist "supporters". In November 2006 after a European match against Tel Aviv one of them was shot and killed by a civilian policeman after rioting following anti-Semitic chanting during the game at the team's home ground at Parc de Princes.