On August 14th, in the first match of the Ligue 1 season against Stade Rennais F.C, OGC Nice paid tribute to the victims of the horrific attack that occurred a month earlier on the Promenade des Anglais.
Symbolically, all the players, both from Nice and Rennes, set aside their usual jerseys to wear a special shirt, devoid of any sponsor but featuring a heart with the names of the deceased and the date of July 14th.
These commemorative jerseys were auctioned off on October 25th, allowing the club to collect €121,500 for the “Promenade des Anges” association.
Among the buyers were local personalities, people from the sports world (Hatem Ben Arfa, Jérémy Pied, the Professional Football League, etc.), as well as anonymous individuals and companies.
One of them, the Nice-based company Rémanence, managed to acquire the lot including the jersey of Paul Baysse, captain of OGC Nice during that match.
Aware of the symbolic significance of this particular item, its President Christian Coppola then contacted the National Sports Museum to offer to make the jersey available for display in the museum’s permanent collection, specifically in the Café des Aiglons, an area dedicated to OGC Nice.
This initiative was, of course, appreciated and accepted by the establishment, the only national museum dedicated to sports in France, whose missions include the presentation and preservation of sports heritage.
The official handover of this jersey will take place at the National Sports Museum, located in the heart of the Allianz Riviera Stadium, this Thursday at 6:30 PM.
