Before the French Football Cup final, a brawl between OL and PSG supporters leaves at least 20 injured – Libération

“These are sporting events where you must above all be joyful and sporty. I condemn with the greatest firmness all violence,” declared Emmanuel Macron during a public walk in Tourcoing.

A bus caught fire and twenty people were slightly injured this Saturday, May 25 during clashes between OL and PSG supporters at a motorway toll booth near Arras, just before the Coupe de France final in Lille, facts condemned “with the greatest firmness” by President Emmanuel Macron.

According to the Pas-de-Calais prefecture, this brawl took place between supporters of the two teams who were going to the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Villeneuve d’Ascq around 6 p.m. on the A1 motorway, at the Fresnes toll gate. lès-Montauban (Pas-de-Calais), about sixty kilometers from Lille. “Around a hundred individuals were involved and a bus caught fire,” she said, adding that “18 buses of Parisian supporters returned to Lille.” “Lyon supporters were also excluded,” she continued. “At this stage, 20 minor injuries have been recorded” among the supporters, all “treated upon their arrival at the stadium by the SAMU du Nord”.

“These are sporting events where you must above all be joyful and sporty. I condemn with the greatest firmness all violence,” declared the Head of State during a public walk in Tourcoing. “I hope things will go as normally as possible this evening,” he added, confirming that he would go to the stadium.

“Inopportune meeting”

According to a police source, the clashes “opposed around a hundred Lyon supporters to nearly 200 Parisian supporters” and “the toll barrier (was) partially set on fire”. This source also reports six police officers slightly injured, a toll not confirmed by the Pas-de-Calais prefecture. No person was arrested, according to the police source. According to a source at the gendarmerie, this violence followed “an untimely meeting between Lyon and Paris supporters”.

Alert 🚨: Lyon supporters flee in the face of a charge from Parisian supporters 🔵🔴 The Police had to intervene. #OLPSG pic.twitter.com/mts4iXIO19

– 3arbi 🇹🇳🇵🇸 (@tounsicn) May 25, 2024

“The significant security system put in place for the match and in particular the police escorts to supervise the ultras made it possible to quickly put an end to the clashes, despite damaged buses,” wrote the Northern prefecture on X. The A1 motorway remains cut in both directions, according to the Pas-de-Calais prefecture.

At the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, the final of the Coupe Gambardella between Marseille and Nancy, which is being played as a curtain-raiser to that of the Coupe de France, was interrupted around ten minutes after the throwing of a projectile by Parisian supporters , already present in the stadium, towards the OM goalkeeper. OL and PSG fans insulted each other during this meeting, noted an AFP journalist.

“Collective responsibility”

During the day, Parisian supporters, but especially Lyon supporters, animated the streets of downtown Lille in a good-natured atmosphere, noted an AFP journalist. An impressive police force is deployed in the city. According to the Pas-de-Calais prefecture, 1,000 police officers and gendarmes were mobilized to secure the meeting and 1,000 others to manage security in the stadium.

Calling for “the collective and individual responsibility of supporters”, the Northern prefecture had put in place several administrative measures as part of this meeting classified as very high risk. Supporters of OL and PSG are therefore prohibited from moving “outside the spaces reserved for them” and cannot cross paths near the enclosure.

The prefecture had also asked the supporters of each team to each use a different metro line, with separate metro stops, to get to the stadium and to avoid the risk of overflows as much as possible. Another ban: the consumption on public roads and terraces of Lezennes, Lille and Villeneuve d’Ascq of alcohol “in a glass or metal container” until 4 a.m. Sunday.