Marseille fans barred from PSG showdown, again
Marseille's Dimitri Payet pleads with his team's fans to calm down during the Europa Conference League quarterfinal soccer match between Olympique Marseille and PAOK FC at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille, southern France, April 7, 2022. (AP Photo)


Marseille fans have been banned by France's Interior Ministry from attending Sunday's Ligue 1 "Classic" ("Classique") with bitter rivals Paris Saint-Germain to be played at Parc des Princes.

The ministry published the order, announcing a 24-hour travel ban, on Saturday less than 36 hours before the encounter between table-topping PSG and Marseille, who are second in the standings but 12 points apart.

"From zero hour to midnight, the individual or collective movement, by any means, of any person claiming the status of supporter of the Olympique de Marseille or behaving as such, is prohibited between the municipalities of the department of Bouches-du-Rhone, on the one hand, and the municipalities of the region of Ile-de-France, on the other hand," the order read.

This decision was made because of the "animosity" and the "strong antagonism" between the fans of the two clubs, said the order.

The last PSG-OM encounter involving fans of both teams was on Feb. 28, 2018, and "eight members of law enforcement were injured," the order noted.

The Ligue 1 season has been marked with violence by angry fans at games in Angers, Lyon, Nice, Marseille, Lens and Brest. Marseille star Dimitri Payet has twice been hit by bottles while taking corners.

Lens fans have been banned from making the 33-kilometer (20.51-mile) trip to Lille on Saturday for the "Derby of the North."