Cup winners PSG in banner ban

Paris Saint Germain (PSG) football club will be banned from defending its title in next year's French League Cup after a controversial banner was displayed during April's final, the Professional Football League (LFP) has ruled.

The 25m banner unfurled during the second half of the match targeted inhabitants of Lens (Pas de Calais), whose team was contesting the final at the Stade de France, which PSG won 2-1.

The banner read: "Paedophiles, unemployed, inbreds: Welcome to the home of the Ch'tis (nickname of people from northeast France).”

On the orders of President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was attending the match, the banner was quickly removed by security forces, but not before the damage was done.

The offending banner was a play on the recent box-office cinema hit "Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis" ("Welcome to the Land of the Ch'tis) which painted a rosy picture of northerners in contrast to negative stereotypes.

The president of the LFP Jacques Riolacci said that the club would not be deducted points despite the ban.

A PSG spokesman said the club would appeal. He said: "PSG will do everything in its power to contest and try and annul this decision.”

A criminal investigation has been opened aimed at finding those responsible for "inciting hatred and violence" against northerners.