Authorities Ban PSG Fans from Traveling to Marseille for Sunday's 'Le Classique'

PARIS (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain fans have been banned from traveling to Marseille due to the risk of violent clashes between supporters in connection with the biggest match in French soccer on Sunday, local authorities said.

The hardcore "ultra" fans of Paris Saint-Germain said they have launched a legal action to challenge the decision ahead of the Ligue 1 match at the Velodrome stadium.

"We are asking our lawyer to bring an emergency procedure before the Council of State in order to contest the upcoming ministerial ban," the Collectif Ultras Paris said. "Since 2015, six prefects have succeeded one another, without any real dialogue ever being established with us. Eleven years of repeated bans cannot take the place of dialogue."

In France, traveling fans are regularly banned from high-risk games and the PSG supporters' legal action is unlikely to succeed.

Justifying the travel ban, France's Interior ministry insisted that relations between Marseille and PSG fans have been hostile for many years. It recalled incidents in Paris in February 2018, during the most recent match attended by supporters of both teams, when eight law enforcement officers were injured.

The match between PSG and Marseille is known as "Le Classique." The confrontation became popular during the 1990s when the arrival of prominent players for both clubs ignited the rivalry. Marseille, the first French team to win the Champions League back in 1993, has fallen well behind since PSG was taken over by Qatari investors in 2011, but the game continues to stir up passion.

Defending champion PSG is two points above Marseille, which has been struggling after failing to recruit any new player over the summer due to financial constraints.