The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, has banned the travel of Paris Saint-Germain supporters to Nice for the late match of the 32nd day of Ligue 1 scheduled between the two clubs on Wednesday, according to a decree published in the Official Journal on Sunday May 12.
The measure is justified by “a real and serious risk of clash between supporters of the two clubs” while “the police are strongly mobilized to face the terrorist threat” but also, in the region, “to secure the Olympic torch relay route and the Cannes international film festival.”
PSG travel “are frequently sources of disturbances to public order resulting from the violent behavior of certain supporters or individuals claiming to be supporters of this team,” said the minister in his decree. According to him, “certain supporters” of OGC Nice also “frequently adopt violent behavior, manifested around and within the stadiums, both through brawls between supporters and through violence against the police or jets of various projectiles, firecrackers or smoke bombs”.
A “particular rivalry”
Mr. Darmanin also highlights the persistence of violent behavior during meetings between Nice and PSG, “with which there is a particular rivalry”. “This antagonism resulted in serious clashes requiring the intervention of the police during previous meetings,” he recalls.
During a Europa Conference League match against Cologne in September 2022, ten police officers and 30 supporters, including 14 from Nice and two Parisians, were injured after Parisian supporters “joined German supporters to fight against Nice supporters », recalls the minister.
This meeting of the 32nd day initially scheduled for the beginning of May had been postponed to lighten the schedule of the Parisian club, engaged in the semi-final of the Champions League. On May 3, the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes had already published a decree prohibiting Parisian supporters from parking, driving on public roads and accessing the Allianz Riviera stadium, the minister indicates in his decree.