Clashes occurred at the Fresnes-lès-Montauban toll station, north of the A 1 motorway in Pas-de-Calais, this Saturday afternoon, between OL and PSG supporters.
In circumstances which have yet to be clarified, two coaches from Lyon found themselves in an area provided for Parisians, where eighteen coaches were expected. A fight then broke out between the two camps at this location located near Arras, around sixty kilometers from Lille. The incidents pitted around 100 Lyon supporters against nearly 200 Parisian supporters according to the police.
According to the Parisian club, which “deplores and condemns this violence”, the Lyon coaches concerned were not supposed to take this route and modified it to save time. “OL condemns and deplores this violence. The route followed was that of the escort, modified by the police. The buses were well under escort”reacted for its part Olympique Lyonnais.
At least twenty injured
The prefect of the North, Bertrand Gaume, improvised a press conference at the start of the evening. According to his account of events, one of the convoys of supporters, escorted by police, arrived on time and in the right place, unlike that of the other team’s supporters, “arrived at the wrong place” And “bad timing”.
Supporters, of whom he did not clearly specify whether they were from Lyon or Paris, then “triggered the bus safety devices” to go out and “attack the opposing team”who for his part sent smoke bombs against one of the coaches.
“Ensure the return of supporters of one of the two teams”
Bertrand Gaume, prefect of the North
“There were very violent brawls”, before the rapid intervention of the police, according to the prefect. In addition to the burned bus, four damaged buses will need to be replaced “to ensure the return of supporters of one of the two teams”.
“OL condemns and deplores this violence. The route followed was that of the escort, modified by the police. The buses were indeed under escort,” the club indicated.
The toll gate was also partially burned. Traffic on the A1 was interrupted in both directions, notably due to the thick smoke emanating from the scene.
At least twenty people were injured during these clashes. They were taken care of on their arrival at the stadium by the SAMU du Nord. Among them are at least two PSG supporters, one hit in an eye and the other in a wrist. On the law enforcement side, at least eight police officers were injured.
Police reinforcements had to be sent to this toll station to try to control the situation. Firefighters were also sent to the scene to control the fires. In a message published on X at 7:15 p.m., the prefecture of the Hauts-de-France region assured that “the significant security system put in place for the match and in particular the police escorts to supervise the ultras made it possible to quickly put an end, despite damaged buses, to the ultra clashes on the Fresnes-les-Montauban area”.
The final maintained
The Coupe de France final between Lyon and Paris is held in Villeneuve-d’Ascq, at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium (kick-off at 9 p.m.). More than 31,000 fans from both teams are expected. The public authorities have denied wanting to cancel the final. The prefecture confirmed the holding of a meeting classified as very high risk (level 5 out of 5 due to “serious risks of disturbances to public order requiring exceptional measures”).
According to AFP, around 150 Lyonnais were waiting near the partially burned toll a few minutes before the start of the match. Asked during a public stroll in Tourcoing, Emmanuel Macron condemned on Saturday “with the greatest firmness” this violence. “I hope things will go as normally as possible this evening”added the President of the Republic, confirming that he would go to the stadium.