PARIS - Away fans will be banned from attending Ligue 1 clashes between Olympique Marseille and Paris St Germain, the French interior ministry said on Thursday, citing security reasons following a history of violent clashes between supporters of the clubs.

"The French interior ministry  has decided not to allow Paris fans to travel to Marseille's Stade Velodrome on Nov 27 and Marseille fans to travel to Paris's Parc des Princes for the return leg on April 7 or 8, 2012," the French interior ministry said in a statement.

"This decision is justified by the real risks of unrest, by the dramatic incidents that surrounded the late 2009 and early 2010 matches."

Away fans were also banned from the PSG v Marseille matches last season.

Fans from the arch-rival clubs clashed in Marseille streets in 2009 and confronted police after their first game of last season was postponed hours before kick-off due to an outbreak of swine flu in the PSG team.

A clash between rival groups of PSG supporters before the teams' return match in Paris in February 2010 led to the fatal beating of a fan and prompted the club to stop selling tickets for away matches for the rest of the season.