Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon echoed French President Emmanuel Macron in condemning on Sunday the violence that broke out between rival football fans ahead of Saturday’s French Cup final, which left 38 people injured and a bus burned to the ground.
Clashes broke out on Saturday at a tollbooth 60 kilometers (40 miles) from the northern city of Lille between Lyon and PSG fans on their way to the decisive match, which Macron attended.
The final took place amid heightened security, with PSG winning 2-1, but was overshadowed by the clash involving around 100 Lyon fans and 200 PSG fans – according to a police source.
One bus was set on fire and two others were damaged, local authorities from the Nord department said in a statement overnight, adding that 30 supporters and eight police officers were injured. Fourteen people required “medical attention”.
In a statement on Sunday, PSG said it “condemns in the strongest possible terms the incidents” that occurred between the two groups of fans.
“The club would like to specify that its fans scrupulously complied with the travel regulations set out in the prefecture decree before being attacked,” added the Parisian club.
“Such behavior does not in any way reflect the values of respect that the club upholds.”
Lyon said in a statement that he “condemns this violence” and later blamed “a clear error” in planning the route.
“For reasons that are still unclear, the police escort decided to overtake seven Lyon buses among the 18 PSG coaches at the Fresnes toll gate.
“And this was after all parties involved had worked for the last two months on separating the (traffic) flow.
“As a result of such an obvious misroute, violence broke out and its origin has not yet been determined.”
The statement noted that several Lyon fans were injured by armed PSG fans.
“The club encourages victims to take legal action from today so that these events can be brought to light.”
Police did not indicate which group of fans launched the attack.
Mingling with the crowd in the nearby town of Tourcoing before the game, Macron said on Saturday that he “condemns all violence in the strongest terms”.
The French Football Federation classified the violence as “unacceptable”.
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