Tottenham: English fans banned from downtown Marseille for the Champions League match

The approximately 2,000 Tottenham supporters expected in Marseille for the match against OM on Tuesday at the Vélodrome in the Champions League are prohibited from entering the city center until Wednesday 2:00 a.m., according to a decree from the Prefecture. from police.

This decree, signed by the Prefect of Police of Bouches-du-Rhône, Frédérique Camilleri, prohibits “any person claiming to be a supporter of Tottenham Hotspur or behaving as such” to circulate in the 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th arrondissement of Marseille, i.e. a large sector including the Old Port, the Panier, Notre-Dame de la Garde and the seafront on the Corniche.

“Preventing the risk of confrontation”

This ban, in force since Monday noon, was taken because the presence of Spurs supporters could “give rise to rivalries with Marseille supporters”, the latter having the habit, during matches, of “crisscrossing the center- city ​​in order to detect “fans of the opposing team” in order to confront them”, specifies this decree.

Similarly, with the exception of English supporters transported to the stadium “in coaches and buses placed under police escort”, no Tottenham fan will be able to be near the Velodrome and in an entire area around the stadium on Tuesday, between 10 a.m. and midnight. Again, this measure is taken in order to “prevent the risk of confrontation”, explains the decree, also recalling that “the terrorist threat remains at a high level in France”.

Before this meeting on Tuesday, on behalf of the 6th and last day of the group stage of the Champions League, neither Olympique de Marseille nor Tottenham are yet guaranteed to qualify for the round of 16.