Bruno Retailleau, the Minister of the Interior, maintains his course: it is at the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis), that the French Football team will face the selection of Israel, on November 14, as part of the League of Nations. Friday November 7, a few hours after the violence that occurred in Amsterdam on the sidelines of the Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Mr. Retailleau declared on the social network , to take “all necessary safety provisions” for the meeting to take place “as usual” in the Dyonisian enclosure.
On the Place Beauvau side, we are not being alarmist, despite the violence that has occurred in the Netherlands: “At present, intelligence has not informed us of any risks, there are simply the threats that weigh around each somewhat sensitive match, such as France-Algeria. » In other words, possible excesses inside the stadium, with banners, whistles, possibly fights, and, above all, tensions outside, in Paris or in the immediate vicinity of the enclosure. “The risk is rather that of a confrontation with the police by young people from the neighborhood excited by the Palestinian cause”we estimate at the ministry. The security device will still be “extremely reinforced” for the meeting, Mr. Nuñez announced in mid-October.
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Twenty-six companies, or around 2,600 mobile gendarmes or police officers, should secure the surroundings of the Stade de France, while plainclothes police officers will be present in its bays. The Israeli selection's hotel will be under surveillance and CRS companies will be distributed throughout Paris. In total, 4,000 members of the police would be mobilized, compared to 6,800 during the 2022 Champions League final. In the enclosure, the first rows of the stands, closest to the pitch, will not be occupied, to avoid invasion of the land.
“We will be able to manage”
Since the draw for the group stages of the League of Nations on February 8, the French Football Federation (FFF) has known that this meeting against Israel will be difficult to organize given the international context in the Middle East. “ We will be extremely vigilant with the public authorities, so that this match can take place in perfect conditions. (…) We will be able to manage”said Philippe Diallo, the president of the FFF. The federation got in touch with the prefecture and the ministry in May, six months before the meeting. Normally, she only does this a month in advance. Contacts between the different parties were then more numerous than usual.
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