The sports and institutional situation that Olympique de Marseille is currently experiencing has caused serious altercations this Saturday at the training center, with several fires around La Commanderie. A group of ultras have tried to enter by force with flares in protest against the directive and against Jacques-Henri Eyraud, club president, which they ask to resign as soon as possible.
The initiators They have been so serious that the match that Olympique de Marseille (OM) had to play against Rennes was postponed three hours from its start, scheduled for 9:00 p.m. this Saturday.
The Marseille Police Prefecture indicated on its Twitter account that seven officers were injured there while trying to restore order and there were 25 arrested.
He explained that 300 fans violently attacked the agents who had been deployed to protect the sports complex and that is why it was decided to send reinforcements to put an end to the destruction.
In some images released by local media you could see how groups of hooded men with flares threw different objects into the complex, in which some of them managed to penetrate.
The incidents have been going on for several minutes, with several tree fires that have generated a spectacular smoke at the door of La Commanderie. The objective of the ultras is that the president of Olympique de Marseille, Jacques-Henri Eyraud, resigns after the bad results of the team.
Attacked Álvaro González
As reported by Carrusel, lThe ultras of Marseille have not only managed to enter the Commanderie, but they have also attacked and looted Álvaro González's belongings.
The OM central has come out to try to dialogue with the ultras, who are furious and enervated They have not responded to explanations and have hit the former Villarreal player, causing a situation of great tension for several minutes.
He then made a statement to the club's media: “I came to the Olympique de Marseille for its history and the passion that surrounds it. This city is wonderful, we all love this club, but what we've been through today shouldn't happen again “.
The club statement
The French club itself made a statement condemning the incidents:
“Olympique de Marseille strongly condemns the unacceptable attack suffered by the club in the middle of the afternoon inside the Robert-Louis Dreyfus training center. A few hundred people from groups of ultras supporters violently and forcibly broke into the site of the Center of Command Training, even in the professional team building.
Despite the intervention of the forces of order, an outbreak of unjustifiable violence endangered the lives of those present at the scene (players, staff, law enforcement officers, security agents, employees). Robberies were committed and vehicles were damaged. Five trees were burned with the sole intention of destroying them. The damage to the interior of the buildings amounts to several hundred thousand euros. These irresponsible and unacceptable acts must be condemned with the utmost severity.
Olympique de Marseille has all the tests. They were immediately referred to investigators. In the next few hours, complaints will be presented to enforce the rights of the club against this barbarity. “
General condemnation
For his part, Jacques-Henri Eyraud, said: “Three hundred employees are shocked tonight for having suffered live images of an unreserved attack on the Institution. What happened this afternoon demands the utmost severity for those rioters who claim to be amateurs but destroy the facilities and threaten employees and players. “
For his part, the goalkeeper Steve Mandanda He noted: “I have been a player for Olympique de Marseille for 13 years. I know everything about this club, I know the love and frustration it can cause (the situation). But today's events sadden me and are unacceptable. We are soccer players and a sports crisis cannot in any way justify such an increase in violence. It's time to calm down. “