PARIS: French law enforcement have detained nine people in the country’s southern city of Marseille after an attack on the team bus of French top league soccer club Lyon, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Monday, reported Sputnik.
On Sunday, Lyon’s senior coach, Fabio Grosso, sustained injuries in the attack on the bus, which was heading for the Velodrome stadium in Marseille.
The vehicle was pelted with stones that broke the glass and whose fragments hit Grosso’s face. The coach received medical help on the spot. The soccer match was cancelled due to the incident.
“This is unacceptable. It was a spontaneous attack, nine people were detained, but this is not all,” Darmanin said on air of French broadcaster RMC.
The French interior minister said the soccer fans bore responsibility and rejected accusations that insufficient security measures were taken before the match.
“When they attack a bus, pelting beer cans and smashing windows, is the police responsible?” Darmanin also said, adding that the French authorities hope for strict punishment for the perpetrators.
He added that 130 police officers were injured during the latest football season, and 870 people were detained. – BERNAMA-SPUTNIK
