Marseille ultra fans to boycott PSG match

Published Feb. 26, 2010 6:04 p.m. ET

foxsports

Marseille supporters and officials will boycott Sunday's French league match at Paris Saint-Germain to protest against security measures imposed on visiting fans.

Marseille supporters willing to attend the match would have been searched before setting off in special buses escorted by police.

Marseille president Jean-Claude Dassier told French radio RTL on Saturday that Marseille fans "are not violent" and had made a "clever and courageous decision" to refuse to attend the match.

"I won't go to Paris," Dassier said. "A football club without its supporters is not really a club anymore."

Dassier said he understood the reasons for the security measures.

"I don't blame the French authorities for that," Dassier said. "The context was dangerous with PSG fans wanting to fight, as we found out this week. We have to get rid of the black sheeps."

Nearly a dozen PSG fans were arrested Thursday near the Stade Velodrome ahead of Marseille's Europa League match against FC Copenhagen. The fans were trying to mix with Copenhagen fans and fight with their Marseille counterparts.

Earlier, a group of fans called "Ultras Marseille" said in a statement it won't travel to Paris because of "hysterical security measures."

Marseille and PSG fans have a long history of clashes. They fought in downtown Marseille after the late postponement of their first meeting of the season in October. Nearly a dozen people were injured.