the Professional Football League (LFP) has decided to postpone the match between Olympique de Marseille (OM) and Stade Rennais on Saturday January 30, after the gathering of several hundred OM supporters at the Commanderie, the club training center in the early afternoon. Clashes in front of the entrance to the site led, according to the police, to the arrest of 25 people.
The supporters showed their anger by throwing smoke and firecrackers. Some demonstrators managed to enter the enclosure briefly, according to journalists from Agence France-Presse (AFP) present on the spot. OM denounced, in a press release, a “Unacceptable attack” and “An unjustifiable outburst of violence”. ” The damage inside the buildings amounts to several hundreds of thousands of euros ”, considers the club.
Many banners of opposition to the management of OM and its president, Jacques-Henri Eyraud, had already been deployed in Marseille, a few hours from the Ligue 1 match against Rennes scheduled for 9 p.m. No date has yet been communicated to organize the meeting between the two clubs, respectively 6e and 5e of the championship.
“Three hundred supporters of OM violently attacked the police present to secure the Commandery”, had written in the afternoon the prefecture of police of Bouches-du-Rhône on Twitter, before “Strongly condemn this unacceptable violence” during which seven police officers were injured. AFP journalists noted that the situation returned to normal around 4 p.m.
“Give us back OM”
For several weeks, protest operations have been organized by OM supporters before the home matches. This Saturday, the deployment of banners was particularly massive with dozens of messages appearing all over the city and widely repeated on social networks.
Several of these messages are aimed directly at President Jacques-Henri Eyraud (“JHE”), who is very unpopular among OM supporters. These are particularly raised against him since a conference on management where Mr. Eyraud had mentioned the ” danger “ to have too many Marseillais or OM supporters within the club.
“JHE: No Marseillais at OM? Get out of here “, could we read on a banner unfurled above a fast lane, and “JHE, Marseille vomits you” on another set up at the Prado roundabout, a few meters from the Vélodrome stadium.
«Follow AVB [André Villas-Boas, entraîneur de l’OM, sur le départ], break you all ”, “Parisians, get out of the way”, “Give us back OM”, “The Olympians hate you” or “Direction, it’s the end”, could we also read on these banners installed on motorway bridges, roundabouts or even on the ledge overlooking the Mediterranean?