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Rugby World Cup organisers act over fan chaos in Marseille

Rugby's global governing body on Sunday said World Cup organisers would improve access to the Velodrome stadium in Marseille following reports of chaotic scenes ahead of England's 27-10 victory over Argentina.

Published: 10 September 2023 14:47 CEST

Rugby World Cup organisers act over fan chaos in Marseille

The Stade Velodrome in Marseille. Photo: CLEMENT MAHOUDEAU/AFP.

The incident brought back uncomfortable memories of the organisational fiasco in Paris last year before the 2022 Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool.

World Rugby released a statement saying the 2023 World Cup organising committee was “taking steps to improve access” to the iconic stadium that is usually the home of the Marseille football team “following delays” ahead of Saturday’s match.

Organisers will also deploy more volunteers to welcome fans at the stadium, increase rugby-related announcements on public transport and provide greater information on how, when and where to access the stadium, World Rugby said.

Late on Saturday night, World Rugby launched an investigation after some fans who struggled to get into the ground for the Pool D match claimed on social media that they feared for their safety.

In May last year, the Champions League final at the Stade de France was delayed by 37 minutes as fans struggled to get into the national stadium after police funnelled them into overcrowded bottlenecks as they approached.

Police then fired tear gas towards thousands of mainly Liverpool supporters locked behind metal fences outside the stadium.

Ahead of the Rugby World Cup, France’s interior minister Gerald Darmanin and Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera told reporters they were “confident” and had “learned lessons” from the football showpiece.

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Paris Olympics organisers deny athletes' beds are 'anti-sex'

The clarification came after fresh reports that the beds, manufactured by Japanese company Airweave and already used during the Tokyo 2020 Games, were to deter athletes from jumping under the covers together in the City of Love.

“We know the media has had a lot of fun with this story since Tokyo 2020, but for Paris 2024 the choice of these beds for the Olympic and Paralympic Village is primarily linked to a wider ambition to ensure minimal environmental impact and a second life for all equipment,” a spokesman for the Paris Games told AFP.

The bed bases are made from recycled cardboard, but during a demonstration in July last year Airweave founder Motokuni Takaoka jumped on one of them and stressed that they “can support several people on top”.

The Paris Games spokesman underlined that “the quality of the furniture has been rigorously tested to ensure it is robust, comfortable and appropriate for all the athletes who will use it, and who span a very broad range of body types – from gymnasts to judokas”.

The fully modular Airweave beds can be customised to accommodate long and large body sizes, with the mattresses — made out of resin fibre — available with different firmness levels.

After the Games, the bed frames will be recycled while the mattresses and pillows will be donated to schools or associations.

Athletes will sleep in single beds, two or three to a room, in the village, a newly built complex close to the main athletics stadium in a northern suburb of the capital.

A report this week in the New York Post tabloid entitled “‘Anti-sex’ beds have arrived at Paris Olympics” was reported by other media and widely circulated on social media.

Similar claims went viral before the Tokyo Olympics, sometimes fanned by athletes themselves.

To debunk them, Irish gymnast Rhys McClenaghan filmed a video of himself jumping repeatedly on a bed to demonstrate their solidity.

At those Games, during the coronavirus pandemic, organisers, however, urged athletes to “avoid unnecessary forms of physical contact”.

In March, Laurent Dalard, in charge of first aid and health services at Paris 2024, said around 200,000 condoms for men and 20,000 for women will be made available at the athletes’ village during the Games.

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