Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has banned Montpellier Hérault supporters from traveling to Marseille for Sunday's Ligue 1 match against OM, according to a decree published in the Official Journal on Friday.
This travel ban is justified by
“a real and serious risk of clash between supporters of the two clubs (...) during the football match between the two teams on Sunday February 25, 2024 at 8:45 p.m.”
at the Vélodrome while
“the police are strongly mobilized to face the terrorist threat”
and will be particularly so in Marseille on Sunday to secure various demonstrations.
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The decree thus recalls that the
“trips of the Montpellier Hérault Sport Club (MHSC) club 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 , manifested recurrently around stadiums and in the city centers of meeting places, both through brawls between supporters and through violence against the police or the throwing of projectiles or smoke bombs
.
He also underlines that in Marseille there persist
"disruptions to public order and violent behavior of Marseille supporters during meetings between OM and a visiting club with which there is a particular rivalry (...), despite the implementation of measures to control the movement of supporters by the police chief of Bouches-du-Rhône
.
In March 2023, in Marseille, a bus of Montpellier supporters was the target
of “projectiles from their Marseille counterparts, causing a brawl and requiring intervention by the police, one of whose members was injured "
, specifies the decree, while last December 20 in Montpellier,
"while a ministerial ban on the movement of Marseille supporters and a prefectural perimeter decree had been taken, two Marseille supporters invited to the presidential stand by the MHSC club were the subject of projectiles thrown by Montpellier supporters
.
In December, the Minister of the Interior had already banned a trip by Olympique Lyonnais supporters to Marseille for the match against OM, rescheduled after the incidents of October 29, during which the buses of OL players and Supporters of this club on their way to the Vélodrome stadium had been stoned by Marseille supporters, leaving several injured, including the coach at the time of OL, Fabio Grosso.