Olympique Lyonnais supporters will once again be banned from traveling to Saint-Etienne for the derby on 3 October, the Loire prefecture announced on Thursday.
This decision was taken because of the risk of “serious public disorder”. In her decree, the prefect of the Loire Catherine Séguin notes that “there is a strong rivalry between the groups of supporters from Saint-Etienne and Lyon, in contradiction with any sporting spirit” and that “serious disturbances to public order are noted in the occasion of matches between these two teams ”.
It recalls in particular the incidents that occurred on November 5, 2017 during the last authorized trip of 850 Lyon supporters to the Geoffroy Guichard stadium.
AS Saint-Etienne, for its part, told AFP on Thursday that the last authorized trip for its supporters to its neighbor and rival Lyon “dates back to April 28, 2013 in Gerland”.
The prefect has also taken another decree limiting to 200 the number of Nice supporters authorized to attend the match of the 8th day of L1 which will oppose Saint-Etienne to Nice on September 25.
The decisions come as a series of fan excesses have taken place since the start of the L1 season, including, on Wednesday, the Montpellier-Bordeaux and Angers-Marseille matches.
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