Violence then broke out between soccer fans after the announcement. Police had to resort to tear gas in order to stop the clashes, while about sixty Parisian fans had to be kept apart from Marseille supporters near the old port area. Incidents were also reported near the train station.

The French league was forced to postpone Sunday´s match between Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille after a third Paris Saint-Germain player was diagnosed with the swine flu.

After advice from a medical commission, the French league said on its website that based its decision on what the commission recommended. French league president Frederic Thiriez said that “the players´ safety is far more important than any other consideration”.

As is common practice in these cases, all Paris Saint-Germain players and staff members will be quarantined for seventy two hours in order to avoid any risk of new infections. A date for the make up game has yet to be decided.

The league also stated that the Marseille game will go ahead despite the first two flu cases being diagnosed.

The third player has not yet been identified publicly. Just a few hours before the game was to start, the Parisian club announced that a third player was hit by the virus and two other staff members had similar symptoms.

In the French division, four swine flu cases have been diagnosed. Montpellier defender Emir Spahic had contracted the virus last August. The other two players for Paris Saint-Germain who were diagnosed with the swine flu are Ludovic Giuly and Mamadou Sako.