Pro-Palestinian activists entered the premises of the French Football Federation (FFF) in Paris on Monday to protest against the organization of the Blues' match against Israel on November 14, we learned from a spokesperson for the FFF.
Around twenty demonstrators, according to images from the online media “Off Investigation” which accompanied them, sat in the entrance hall of the Federation, in front of a display case of trophies. They notably sang the “Song of the Partisans”, a song of the French Resistance from the Second World War.
They brandished or placed on the ground signs reading in particular “No to the France-Israel match”, “Genocide Nations League” or asking FIFA, the international federation, to ban Israel (“Ban Israel”).
The French team must face that of Israel on November 14 for the 5th day of the League of Nations at the Stade de France, “a high-risk match” in the context of war in the Middle East, it was specified on October 17 police chief Laurent Nuñez. The meeting will be supervised by “an extremely reinforced security system outside and inside” the enclosure, he said.
Already in July, during the Paris Olympic Games, a thousand police and gendarmes were mobilized for the men's football match between Mali and Israel at the Parc des Princes, due to calls for “mobilization” against the presence of the Israeli delegation in France because of the war in Gaza. No notable incidents had been reported.
On the other hand, in September, Belgium's home match against Israel in the League of Nations was relocated to Debrecen, Hungary, and was played behind closed doors, after the refusal of several Belgian cities to host the match, fearing excesses. On October 10, during the 3e day of the League of Nations, the Israel-France match, won 4-1 by the Blues, had also been relocated to Hungary, in Budapest.
