A petition relayed by a deputy from La France insoumise was launched so that the France-Israel Football match on November 14 be canceled.
“The match will take place,” replied the Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, this Friday.
It's a high-risk meeting on the Blues' calendar for several months. Next Thursday, November 14, on the occasion of the fifth day of the Nations League, the French football team will host Israel at the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis (8:45 p.m. live on TF1, TF1+ (new window) and live commentary on TF1info).
A match with a very particular geopolitical context, which requires the authorities to be extremely vigilant. If a closed session was once mentioned, as well as a postponement of the meeting to the Parc des Princes (Paris), it is indeed within the Dionysian enclosure, and with the public, that it will take place (new window). The ticket office was also opened by the French Football Federation (FFF)…
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…which is not to everyone's taste. The France Palestine Solidarity Association launched a petition in recent days to “refuse Israel to be welcomed into France”. Signed by several thousand people, it “asks the FFF and UEFA to cancel the France-Israel return match and to support the request of 12 nations as well as the Asian Football Confederation to suspend Israel from international competitions”. It was notably relayed by the deputy of La France insoumise, Louis Boyard.
The signatories should not be heard. While the first leg, initially scheduled in Israel, was relocated to Hungary, the same will not be true for the return leg. “This meeting will take place”confirmed this Friday the Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau, interviewed on BFMTV (new window). “I made a point with the police prefect, Laurent Nuñez, who knows perfectly well what he is talking about. We will adapt the security system, (but) it will take place.”
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Many police officers will be positioned outside the largest enclosure in France, but also inside. Reduce the number of spectators in this stadium which can hold nearly 80,000 “is something we are currently studying.”however tempers Bruno Retailleau, who makes the organization of this meeting a question of principle. “We are in France. We must be able to enforce public order”he insists. “I hope it’s a good time.”
