The football match between France and Israel took place Thursday evening without incident, apart from a brief crowd movement accompanied by an exchange of blows in a stand at the Stade de France. An exceptional security system was put in place after last week’s violence in Amsterdam.
The supporters left the Saint-Denis stadium peacefully a little before 11 p.m., according to AFP journalists. A brief crowd movement occurred in an upper stand during the first period, leading to the intervention of stewards.
In footage, spectators can be seen exchanging blows, including one carrying an Israeli flag on his shoulders. A source close to the matter mentioned “provocations from people suspected of belonging to the far-left movement and PSG supporters (Auteuil tribune)”.
“There was a crowd movement and PSG supporters were chased,” said this source, adding: “blows were exchanged and a person, suspected of being pro-Israeli, was arrested.” There were “no” injuries, according to the same source.
>> Review the topic from 7:30 p.m. before the match:
Palestinian flags
In the south stand, some supporters took out Palestinian flags, applauded by others, before security intervened to remove them. Only French and Israeli flags were allowed. Palestinian banners, as well as messages of a political nature, were prohibited.
The Palestinian flags “were immediately confiscated” and the people who displayed them “verbalized due to the prefectural decree” prohibiting them, said the source close to the matter.
The sporting stakes of this meeting in the Paris suburbs counting for the League of Nations were largely eclipsed by the geopolitical context. Emmanuel Macron, who attended the meeting, assured his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the “mobilization of France” for a “good progress of the match”.
Under high security
Fears of excesses were reinforced after the serious incidents which followed the Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel-Aviv, on the night of November 7 to 8 in Amsterdam.
Clashes on the sidelines of a football match in Amsterdam against a backdrop of conflict in the Middle East
A total of 4,000 police officers and gendarmes had been deployed around and, rarely, in the Saint-Denis stadium, as well as on public transport and throughout Paris. In addition to the police, around 1,600 security agents were mobilized at the Stade de France and the RAID ensured the security of the Israel team.
Few spectators
The Saint-Denis enclosure (80,000 seats) sounded a little hollow since only 16,611 spectators were present, the lowest attendance in history for a French team match at the Stade de France. Israel called on its fans on Sunday to avoid going to the Stade de France. And the head of Israeli diplomacy Gideon Saar asked the French authorities on Thursday evening to ensure “the security of Israeli supporters”.
Led by an association for the defense of the Jewish community, more than 600 people went to the stadium in around ten chartered buses and placed under high police security. In Saint-Denis, Place du Front populaire, several hundred people gathered Thursday evening to denounce the holding of the match.
afp/lia
