18 Marseille fans held after invasion

MARSEILLE • French police in Marseille were holding 18 people in custody yesterday after hundreds of fans stormed the training ground of the southern city's Ligue 1 football team a day earlier, the local prosecutor said.

The hardcore Ultras supporters forced their way into the Commanderie training ground, hurling flares and firecrackers in a demonstration against the club's leadership and a poor run.

The surrounding trees outside the centre's entrance were also set on fire and graffiti was left on the walls. The game between Marseille and Rennes scheduled for a few hours later was postponed.

RMC Sport also published footage of fans marching in the streets and carrying banners reading "(club) directors, out", and others directly targeting club president Jacques-Henri Eyraud.

French sports daily L'Equipe added that Spanish defender Alvaro Gonzalez was hit by a flying projectile, with riot police deployed to deal with the incident.

Marseille condemned a "frenzy of violence" and said damage amounting to several hundred thousand euros had been caused.

All 18 being held by police in relation to the violence were adults, prosecutor Dominique Laurent said in a statement.

A stunned Eyraud earlier told Canal Plus TV channel: "Lawsuits will be filed tomorrow. It is unacceptable. But life must go on, we cannot give these individuals what they want, which is chaos."

Separately, the club's American owner Frank McCourt compared the actions of the "thugs" to the deadly Jan 6 assault on the US Capitol in Washington DC.

"A few sources feed an inferno of opinions, invectives and threats that are amplified by social media, creating the conditions that lead to violence and chaos," he wrote in a statement on the club's website.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE