The shooting death of a Paris Saint-Germain supporter has prompted a political outcry and national outrage in France _ yet the racism and soccer violence it has exposed have formed a dark cloud over Paris' glamour club for more than 20 years.
A black police officer, Antoine Granomort, killed one man and wounded another while under attack from a group of PSG supporters following Thursday's UEFA Cup match between PSG and Israel's Hapoel Tel Aviv.
The PSG fans shouted anti-Semitic and racial epithets, and Granomort said he was trying to protect himself and another fan described by officials as a French Jew.
Tackling PSG's history of racism and violence is taking on national importance as France heads into pivotal presidential elections next year, and grapples with how to integrate its minorities whose sense of disenfranchisement was highlighted by nationwide riots last year.
Fan groups deny inciting attacks and PSG officials say they can do little to stop the clashes. But interviews with gang members and repeated visits to PSG games found that racist hooligans operate openly at the Parc des Princes stadium on the western outskirts of Paris.
Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, a presidential hopeful, met French soccer head Frederic Thiriez, PSG president Alain Cayzac and fan groups after Thursday's clash.
Police said the two men who were shot were members of a group known as the Boulogne Boys, some of whom have links to PSG's tight-knit and violent far-right fan base, which congregates in the Kop of Boulogne, one of the two main stands at the 43,000-seat Parc des Princes.
During one match last season, a fan yelled at former PSG midfielder Vikash Dhorasoo, who is of Indian origin: ``Go sell peanuts in the metro.'' It was among the least offensive shouts in a tirade of vulgar epithets and monkey chants.
French soccer draws heavily on talent from former African colonies, making it both a showcase of mixed races and a target for racists.
The Boulogne Boys have been quick to distance themselves from allegations that the group has a far-right leaning.
``The (Boulogne) Boys have never been political, and never will be,'' the group said in a statement Friday. ``The media have once again stigmatized our association.''
The Kop of Boulogne has long had a strong racist presence. One of the groups that congregate there, the Independents, number some 120 to 150, with around 80 known to have the strongest right-wing views. The shooting victim, Julien Quemener, is reported to have been close to the Independents.
Inter Milan's Senegal-born Patrick Vieira, a midfielder for the French national team, said last year he'd ``have to think twice before setting foot (at Parc des Princes) again.''
French hooliganism began at Parc des Princes in 1984 when English and French fans clashed on the terraces during an international match, leaving dozens injured. That made French thugs firmly part of the hooligan movement that was dominating British headlines.
The Kop of Boulogne, with its low admission fees, became a meeting point for disaffected white youths, many from poor surrounding suburbs. It soon was infiltrated by from far-right militants.
In 1991, Arab fans were attacked by marauding Boulogne hooligans. Earlier this month a man of Senegalese origin was attacked by six Boulogne thugs after a match at Le Mans. Two of the assailants have received prison sentences.
PSG officials have long insisted racists are a minority and that their powers to stop them are limited _ even with 102 cameras inside the stadium.
``You can't ask PSG to arrest and judge people. Things don't work that way in France,'' the club's director of communications, Jean-Philippe d'Halliville, said in an AP interview in April.
Prosecutor Jean-Claude Marin, who is investigating Thursday's incident, says the clubs can and will be held responsible for such violence.
Former hooligans have been hired as stadium ushers and are on first-name terms with known troublemakers, sometimes letting them in without tickets or a search.
Jean-Pierre Larrue, head of security at PSG until two years ago, was determined to clear the stadium of hooligans and racists. But he was considered too heavy-handed and fan groups threatened mayhem and boycotts. The club fired him.
``After my departure, (the thugs) once again found a sense of impunity,'' Larrue told sports daily L'Equipe on Saturday.
Following Thursday's shooting death of 25-year-old Quemener, about 150 to 200 Boulogne Boys called a peaceful meeting outside the Parc des Princes. Prior to Sunday's match at Nantes, they marched through Nantes' city centre in Quemener's honor. Riot police, known as CRS, kept a watchful eye.
Clashes between PSG hooligans and the CRS have been almost as frequent as fights with rivals. During a match against Caen in 1993, PSG fans swarmed isolated CRS officer and kicked him into a coma. He eventually recovered.
PSG hooligans clashed with Saint-Etienne, Nantes, Lyon, Nice and hated southern rivals Marseille. Friendships, meanwhile, were formed with far-right fan groups at clubs such as Metz.
A Marseille fan was partially paralyzed in 2000 after being hit over the head with a metal seat. Two years ago, Marseille's team bus almost crashed when a rock was thrown through the window.
PSG's progress in European competition saw even more vicious fighting. Between 1993 and 2003, PSG hooligans fought with groups from Arsenal, Anderlecht, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Glasgow Rangers, CSKA Moscow and Chelsea.
With no European competition last season, fighting was largely internal as Boulogne members fought a multiracial PSG group called the Tigris Mystic, gathered at the opposite end of Parc des Princes in the Tribune d'Auteuil.
Thursday's incident has prompted calls for a British-style zero-tolerance plan.
Sarkozy wants PSG's hooligans banned from matches and champions anti-terrorism legislation to boost video surveillance. His Socialist rival in the presidential race, Segolene Royal, proposes shutting down stands such as the Kop of Boulogne.
© The Canadian Press, 2007
