May 27 – The latest incident of fan violence to rock French football led to 30 injuries after rivals from Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain fought on a motorway before Saturday’s French Cup final near the city of Lille.
Both clubs echoed French President Emmanuel Macron by condemning the violence though the final went ahead amid heightened security with PSG winning 2-1.
The final was relocated to Stade Pierre Mauroy near Lille because of preparations at Stade de France in Paris for the upcoming Olympic Games but was inevitably overshadowed by the clashes in which a bus was set on and 14 people required “medical attention”.
In a statement Sunday, PSG said it “condemns in the strongest possible terms the incidents” that occurred between the two sets of fans.
“The club would like to specify that its supporters scrupulously complied with the travel regulations set out in the prefectoral decree before being attacked. Such behaviour in no way reflects the values of respect that the club stands for.”
Lyon said in a statement it “condemns this violence” and later blamed “a clear error” in route planning. For reasons that are still not clear the police escort decided to pass seven Lyon buses in the middle of the 18 PSG coaches at a toll booth.
“And that was after all parties involved had been working for the past two months on separating the (traffic) flow. As a result of such an obvious route error violence erupted with its origin yet to be determined,” Lyon said.
The statement noted that several Lyon fans had been injured by armed PSG supporters. “The club encourages victims to take legal action from today so that light can be shed on these events.”
Lyon and PSG ultras have a long-standing rivalry but police did not indicate which group of fans launched the attack. Mingling with the public ahead of the game, Macron said he “condemns all violence with the greatest firmness.”
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