Police cancel PSG shirt ban in Marseille

A ban on Paris Saint-Germain fans wearing their team’s shirt in the city centre of fierce rivals Marseille on Sunday has been rescinded.

Police had announced the ban for when the Parisians take on Bayern Munich in the Champions League final.

Clothing even “displaying the colours of PSG” was off-limits.

But the order was later rolled back after the decision was met with widespread criticism.

Justifying its initial ban, the police said “there is strong animosity on the part of some Marseille residents, supporters or not, toward the PSG team, in contradiction with any sporting spirit”.

The order came due to disturbances in Marseille during PSG’s semi-final win over German side Leipzig.

One man was arrested for attacking a man wearing a PSG shirt. Hundreds of Marseille fans sang anti-PSG songs and detonated firecrackers.

But Bouches-du-Rhône police later backtracked on the order.

“The sole purpose of this decree was to protect Parisian supporters, and in no way intended to restrict freedom of movement,” it said on Twitter.

It added that it had decided to repeal the total ban on PSG fans due to the “incomprehension caused by this decree”.

The PSG-Bayern game takes place at Benfica’s stadium in Lisbon.

-Report by BBC