There have been 20 injuries, including eight police officers, after rival ultra groups of Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon clashed ahead of Saturday’s Coupe de France final.
The incident took place at a toll both on the A1 motorway near Arras, around 40km from the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Lille, where the final was staged.
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Local police have reported that around 100 individuals were involved and that all the injuries were minor, with the incident starting as both sets of ultras pulled up to the toll booth simultaneously. A brawl broke out between the groups, which saw one bus burned and four others damaged, alongside multiple minor injuries.
Bertrand Gaume, security chief for the region, told the media at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy that “there were serious incidents” on the A1 ahead of the match, but these were “put down very quickly by the police”.
Gaume said: “Let’s honour football rather than honour violence. There were dozens of Parisians and Lyonnais in downtown Lille this afternoon, it went very well.”
France’s president Emmanuel Macron, who is in attendance at the final, said: “These are sporting events where you must above all be joyful and sporty. I condemn with the greatest firmness all violence. I hope things will go as normally as possible this evening.”
PSG condemned the incidents “in the strongest possible terms” in a statement released on Sunday, and added they “reserved the right to file a complaint” after “five of its supporters’ buses” were allegedly damaged.
It added: “The club would like to point out that its supporters scrupulously respected the travel arrangements of the prefectural decree on this occasion before being attacked.
“These behaviours in no way reflect the values of respect that the club defends.”
Lyon also released a statement on the incident, which read: “Olympique Lyonnais strongly condemns and regrets the violence that occurred on the sidelines of the OL-PSG French Cup match, during a trip organized by one of its supporters groups.
“Following an obvious misdirection, violence broke out without the origin being clearly established. We hope that the video surveillance images will make it possible to trace all the facts. Several OL supporters were injured, notably by armed PSG supporters. A Lyon bus was set on fire after smoke bombs were thrown inside.
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“Olympique Lyonnais would like to thank the police and the passengers who had the good reflexes to extract people from the bus quickly, particularly young children, and thus avoid tragedies. OL specifies that it will become a civil party for all procedures that will be opened.”
PSG are the record winners of the competition, France’s version of the FA Cup, with 14 titles to their name but none since 2021, while Lyon are hoping to win their sixth Coupe de France and first in 12 years.
(Photo: Franco Arland/Getty Images)