The serious attacks by Marseille fans against Lyon buses that caused several injuries and led to the suspension of the match between the two French clubs this Sunday have already led to nine arrests and investigations continue to arrest all those responsible.
This is the message from the French Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, who in an interview with the BFMTV channel defended himself for not having prepared the security device well for that risky match.
Darmanin emphasized that 500 police and gendarmes had been mobilized, that there were nine injuries among the officers and that what happened "is the responsibility of the fans and the clubs."
He acknowledged that not all the perpetrators have been captured, but he was convinced that the video surveillance images will make it possible to identify them and "detain other people." "I hope that there will be administrative and sporting sanctions" and that the Justice Department will hand down "significant prison sentences."
The incidents occurred before the match when several buses, and in particular the one that took Lyon to the Velodrome stadium in Marseille, received a shower of beer cans and other objects that burst some windows and injured the visiting coach, the Italian, in particular. Fabio Grosso.
The image of Grosso's bloodied face, which is the cover chosen this Monday by L'Équipe, has become the symbol of this new episode of violence in French football.
The Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa Castéra, also defended herself this Monday against failures in the security device and stated that the match "had been well prepared" and when asked in another interview on the France 2 channel about whether there will be sanctions for the clubs, responded that "if there are responsibilities, of course."
In his opinion, "all the authors of these inadmissible actions must be strongly sanctioned", there must be "a global response" and "the clubs cannot be disinterested."
