A brawl between Bordeaux and Nantes supporters broke out on Sunday, October 24, in Lorient, shortly before the L1 match between the local team and the Girondins, leaving three injured who were hospitalized.
Around noon, in the city center of Lorient, “Bordeaux residents were quietly in front of a bar eating something (…) when they were assaulted, no more and no less. Because we had spotted them, we could see that they were calm and that there was no problem at all. It was the people of Nantes who jumped on them ”, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) a police source, confirming information from South West and Telegram. The brawl brought together “Around thirty Nantes residents and around fifty Bordeaux residents. There were several injured, including three taken to hospital for more appropriate treatment ”, added this source.
“We led the supporters [bordelais] at kop visitors [pour le match Lorient-Bordeaux] and it stopped there. It is likely that they are supporters [nantais] who came to fight with the Bordelais and, once done, they left ”, added the police source, specifying that there had been no serious injuries.
Morbihan firefighters confirmed to AFP that three men were taken to hospital on Sunday following a brawl in the city center. Lorient welcomed Bordeaux on Sunday at 3 p.m. (final score 1-1) for the 11e Ligue 1 day. On Saturday, Nantes had beaten Clermont at home (2-1).
Series of incidents in 2017
In 2017, the Loire-Atlantique prefecture invoked a series of incidents between supporters of the two clubs to prohibit the movement of Bordeaux supporters to Nantes before, finally, authorizing a very small contingent.
The government has promised the Professional Football League (LFP) “Coordinated actions” to fight against insecurity in stadiums and “Strong response” the incidents that marked the start of the season in Ligue 1, in a letter of which AFP obtained a copy on Sunday.
Faced with the multiplication of incidents in the stadiums this season (throwing objects and smoke, invading the ground, clashes between groups of supporters …), the LFP had called on the government to the rescue at the end of August on the “Judicial responses” to bring to these overflows.