Discriminatory chants in the stands, a team bus targeted with stones, a match called off due to crowd disturbances, and a scarcity of goals on the field have marred the football season.
The French football league is gaining attention for all the wrong reasons this season, and now even the French government is urging action to address the issues.
After 13 rounds of matches this season, officials are concerned about the increasing number of incidents as they grapple with a surge in violence within stadiums over the past two seasons.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin reported that over 100 police officers were injured in incidents related to football last season, and 870 people were detained.
There is no indication of a decrease in these incidents.
"There’s no other sport with this level of violence,” Darmanin said recently.
In October, during a match in Montpellier, play was halted in added time when fans threw a firework from the stands that landed near Clermont goalkeeper Mory Diaw.
The Senegalese player had to be stretchered off but did not sustain serious injuries.
A few weeks later in Marseille, a disturbing incident occurred when fans stoned the bus carrying Lyon players outside the Velodrome stadium.
The windows were shattered, and Lyon coach Fabio Grosso suffered facial injuries that required stitching.
Supporters were also singled out; five police officers were injured, and nine individuals were placed in custody, according to Darmanin.
Another episode of violence occurred in Montpellier last weekend when a bus transporting Brest fans back home was attacked as they departed the southern city following a 3-1 away team victory.
Their bus was struck by stones allegedly thrown from a motorway bridge.
"What happened was very serious. When you look at the impacts on the vehicle, you quickly understand the violence," said Pascal Robert, the club's managing director. "If the paving stone that was thrown at the front of the bus had fallen 2 meters lower, the driver would have been hit ... I can’t imagine the tragedy that would have ensued with our 60 supporters on board.”
Meanwhile, the league isn't offering up a whole lot in terms of entertainment or suspense.
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) are once again leading the standings ahead of Sunday's match in Le Havre, having clinched nine of the last 11 league titles.
With a star-studded team led by Kylian Mbappe, the league's leading scorer with 14 goals, the Parisians stand uncontested on the domestic stage.
Nice, on the other hand, have presented a credible challenge this season and trail just one point behind the leaders ahead of Saturday's match at Nantes.
However, the remaining 16 teams are not providing their fans much to celebrate.
According to league statistics, the average number of goals per game after 12 rounds was lower than in the last three seasons, standing at under 2.5, with an increase in the number of scoreless draws.
Certain fan groups are discovering alternative ways to stay entertained.
Before the Marseille-Lyon match was eventually canceled, supporters from both teams lingered in the stadium, trading insults as they awaited the resumption of play.
Some Lyon fans were recorded taunting their Marseille rivals, making Nazi gestures, and mimicking monkeys.
Vincent Labrune, the president of Ligue 1, believes that violence reached a new peak after stadiums welcomed supporters back following the COVID-19 pandemic, during which games were played without fans.
Upon the reopening of venues, individuals with a history of violence, who had previously faced stadium bans during the interruption, were permitted back, he said.
"The guys had served their time. We ended up with a completely above-average number of crazy people," Labrune said during a hearing with French lawmakers this month.
Labrune estimated that approximately 50 violent fans at each French league club are causing trouble.
"If we manage to get them out of stadiums, the situation should improve,” he said.
Labrune added that the "zero tolerance” policy implemented by the league - with point deductions and the closure of stadium sections, is needed to improve the situation. But he seemed under no illusion that the violence can be eradicated without a bigger change in mentalities.
"Football is a reflection of society; we’re not going to stop it all on our own,” Labrune said.
Faced with an increasing number of homophobic chants in stadiums, Labrune also called for matches to be systematically stopped as soon as the first offensive chant can be heard.
"We’re prepared to go as far as we can,” he told lawmakers. "I find questions of discrimination in general intolerable, and questions of homophobia drive me crazy. We have to stop the match; this is an appropriate measure.”
