Fearing clashes, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin banned the travel of PSG supporters to Marseille for the Ligue 1 clasico on Sunday and those of Nantes who meet Nice the same day, according to two orders published in the Official Journal this Wednesday.
The Ministry of the Interior justifies these two decisions by a “real and serious risk of clashes between supporters” of the different clubs during the two matches of the 27th day of the French Championship, Nice-Nantes (3 p.m.), and Marseille-PSG (8:45 p.m.).
The movements of PSG and Nantes supporters “are frequently sources of disturbances to public order due to the violent behavior of certain supporters or individuals claiming to be supporters of this team”, believes the minister, who underlines also a “strong antagonism” and a “particular rivalry” between Parisian and Marseille supporters.
In both cases, “only a ban on individual and collective travel by people claiming to be supporters” of Paris Saint-Germain or FC Nantes, “or behaving as such, is likely to avoid all serious risks for the safety of people and property,” it is written.
On February 16, the Council of State finally allowed PSG supporters to attend their club’s victory against Nantes at the Beaujoire stadium where the Parisians won (2-0) on the occasion of a match on the 22nd day of Ligue 1, and despite a similar decree taken by Beauvau.
The travel ban was “a serious and manifestly disproportionate attack on the fundamental freedoms” of some 1,000 PSG supporters expected in Nantes, the judge of the Council of State then indicated, emphasizing “the absence of sufficient justification of these measures”.
