Buses of Olympique de Marseille supporters targeted on the highway on their return from Clermont

Several buses carrying OM supporters were hit by projectiles on the A47 motorway near Saint-Etienne, while the club was returning from a trip to Clermont on Saturday.

Eight buses of Marseille supporters were targeted during the night from Saturday to Sunday by “heavy projectiles” and stopped in the middle of the A47 motorway where some of their passengers injured a motorist, announced the Loire prefecture. These “serious incidents” took place around 1:30 a.m. near Saint-Etienne, while the eight buses were returning to Marseille after OM’s victory over Clermont (5-1), specifies the prefecture in a press release.

Of the “heavy projectiles” have “probably” were thrown at vehicles from a bridge overlooking the highway, she adds. “DMarseille supporters then got out of the buses and damaged a vehicle, injuring its driver, before leaving“.

A motorist injured following retaliation

This motorist was injured in the face and transported by firefighters to the Saint-Etienne University Hospital, said police sources, who reported that a “large number” supporters had gotten off the buses, some armed with baseball bats.

When they arrived, the police found pieces of rubble, mortars and broken windows, but the coaches had left. The police caught up with them further away, carried out identity checks but did not make any arrests at this stage, according to another police source.

Increasing incidents

The Saint-Etienne public prosecutor’s office told AFP that it had opened two separate investigations, one for violence with weapons in meetings with premeditation, concerning the throwing of projectiles, the other for degradation in meetings with weapons, for reprisals. In his press release, the prefect of the Loire, Alexandre Rochatte “deplores and condemns with the greatest firmness the unacceptable violence and degradation (…)” Who “could have had dramatic consequences“.

Several incidents involving supporters have taken place since the start of the Ligue 1 season, causing numerous travel bans for opposing supporters. A Nantes supporter was killed on December 3, 2023 following between Nantes and Nice fans on the sidelines of the match between the two clubs. The Olympique Lyonnais bus was stoned upon arrival at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille on October 22, injuring then-OL coach Fabio Grosso and leading to the match being postponed.

A bus of Brest fans was also targeted by projectiles after their club’s victory in Montpellier on November 26, leaving two injured. The match between Montpellier and Clermont on October 8 was definitively stopped following the explosion on Clermont goalkeeper Mory Diaw of a firecracker thrown from the stands.