France and Israel will face each other on Thursday in the UEFA Nations League.
“It will be a high-risk match in a very tense geopolitical context,” Paris police prefect Laurent Nuñez told French news channel BFM TV, adding that authorities will not tolerate “any excesses and disturbances.” to public order.
Mr. Nuñez indicated that 2,500 police officers would be deployed around the Stade de France, located north of the French capital, in addition to 1,500 others throughout Paris and on public transport.
“There will be an anti-terrorist security perimeter around the stadium,” said Mr. Nuñez. Security checks will be “reinforced”, he added, in particular through systematic searches.
He stressed that French organizers were in contact with Israeli authorities and security forces in order to prepare.
According to Dutch authorities, Israeli fans were attacked last week after a soccer match in Amsterdam by hordes of young people responding to calls on social media to attack the Jewish people.
Five people were treated in hospital and dozens were arrested after the attacks, which were condemned as anti-Semitic by authorities in Amsterdam, Israel and across Europe.
Dutch police on Sunday arrested several people for taking part in a protest in central Amsterdam that had been banned following violence against Israeli supporters, a local broadcaster reported.
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau confirmed on Friday that the France-Israel match would go ahead as planned.
“I think for some symbolic reason we must not give in, we must not give up,” he said, noting that sports fans around the world had gathered for the Paris Olympics this year to celebrate the “universal values” of sport.
Canada
