The banner called people from the rival team’s city, Lens in northern France, “pedophiles, unemployed and inbreeds.” The PSG fan group believed behind it was the Boulogne Boys, which has a history of violence and some links to PSG’s far-right element.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy was at the Stade de France for the match, and security officials removed the banner within minutes.

Alliot-Marie responded by disbanding the Boulogne Boys — the first time the government did so to a supporters group. And PSG was banned from defending its League Cup title next season.

Because the banner was witnessed by the nation’s leader and was on national television, the government was “somewhat obliged to react,” LICRA spokeswoman Fanny Lucien said.

Disbanding the Boulogne Boys hasn’t made the violence go away. Instead, it has pushed extremist fans underground and made it harder for police to track them because they are no longer part of an affiliated fan club.

“Extremist groups have the total freedom to transform the Saint-Michel (train station) into a lawless place where insecurity and terror reign for several hours,” LICRA said.

On May 24, tourists gathered in Latin Quarter cafes surrounding Saint-Michel gaped at a phenomenon unmentioned in guidebooks to the French capital.

“This is Paris!” one group of PSG hooligans chanted by the picturesque Saint-Michel fountain while making Nazi salutes.

By wearing British designer labels, these thugs are portraying an image of their British hooligan idols. But although Britain has sought to crack down on its soccer hooligans, PSG’s are still relatively untamed.

The club repeatedly has referred to such fans as a minority, but hooliganism has existed for more than 20 years inside the Parc des Princes — centered around the Kop of Boulogne section behind one of the goals, where the fans are almost exclusively white — and outside.

The persistent lack of action by club management has led many to believe club officials are intimidated by the violent hooligan fringe.

Jean-Pierre Larrue, a former police commissioner, was in charge of security at PSG in 2003-2004, but was ousted after fans complained to club directors about his hardline approach.

In an interview with the daily Le Parisien in April, Larrue said police intelligence officers regularly went drinking with some of Boulogne’s most hardcore thugs. This complicity was denied by UNSA, the police’s biggest union.

Meanwhile, tensions between PSG thugs and police linger.

In November 2006, Julien Quemener, a member of the Boulogne Boys, was shot and killed by off-duty police officer Antoine Granomort after a UEFA Cup match against Hapoel Tel Aviv.

Granomort, who is black, was protecting a Jewish fan under attack from supporters shouting racist and anti-Semitic epithets. Granomort has said he acted in self-defense, but the death still grates with PSG’s hardcore element.

Now, PSG’s hooligans had largely gone underground, regaling themselves in a new phenomenon sweeping French soccer called simply “the fight.” Thugs clash in fields, parking lots or other locations, with equal numbers and set rules. Incidents from Nice to Paris have been reported, but police and clubs can do little because they occur miles away from stadiums.

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