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Nice mayor wants Basel fans banned for European visit / Photo: © AFP
Nice mayor wants Basel fans banned for European visit
The mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, said Tuesday that he did not want Basel fans coming to Nice for a Europa Conference League quarter-final second leg on April 20.
"I can only express my great concern about the upcoming arrival in the streets of Nice of hundreds of FC Basel supporters," said Estrosi in a statement, requesting that "Swiss fans do not make the trip to Nice on April 20".
The reputation of Basel ultras "precedes them," said the statement. "They travel in numbers and like fiery atmospheres."
Last year, they were "conspicuous" in Marseille in the last 16 of the Europa Conference League, said the statement, "with violent altercations in the vicinity of the Stade Velodrome".
"It is out of the question to witness another outburst of violence," said Estrosi.
In September, the Allianz Riviera stadium in Nice was the scene of serious incidents involving fans of visiting Cologne.
Nice travel to Basel on Thursday for the first leg.
D. O'Sullivan--BTZ
