Four Nimes fans injured after being attacked at third-tier game in France

CHATEAUROUX, France (AP) — French soccer club Châteauroux said four visiting fans from Nimes were injured after being attacked in the away end during Friday night’s third-tier game.

Châteauroux said in a statement posted on X that it will seek to press charges against the group who attacked the Nimes fans, specifying that they were not from Châteauroux.

“Despite the security in place about 30 individuals, who were nothing to do with the game and from outside of Châteauroux, wearing balaclavas and carrying iron bars broke into the Nîmes supporters’ enclosure,” Châteauroux said. “This act of violence left four people injured who were treated by emergency services on site.”

Online images showed several people lying on the ground in the away end after being surrounded and beaten.

French media reports said the attackers were a group from Montpellier, which is a fierce regional rival to Nimes with their cities about 50 kilometers (31 miles) apart.

However, Châteauroux is more than 500 kilometers away from Montpellier, suggesting such an attack would have been pre-planned.

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