There should not be more than 20,000 people inside the Stade de France on Thursday, for the penultimate Nations League match between France and Israel. Among visitors, there will be barely 150 who will join the reserved parking lot. This would be the lowest attendance in history for a French team match in the venue created for the 1998 World Cup.
Thousands of police and gendarmes mobilized
And yet, the planned security system is “ worthy of the Paris Olympic Games ”, according to the authorities. 4,000 police officers and gendarmes, including 2,500 positioned around the stadium, several hundred inside which is much rarer. Law enforcement officers will also patrol public transport, and more than a thousand security guards from private companies will be added to this arsenal.
In the midst of conflict in the Middle East, the tension around this match was greatly increased by the serious incidents that occurred last week in Amsterdam, on the sidelines of a Europa League match between Ajax and the Maccabi Tel-Aviv club. . Quoted by our colleagues from The Teama police source indicates: “ What happened in Amsterdam was the objectification of the risk that we had in mind. We were theoretically working on the scenario but it was not illustrated. It's done. So, we want to be very dissuasive to prevent acts from taking place. ».
While the Israeli delegation is itself accompanied by a security service on each of its trips, the context around this meeting largely explains the very low attendance expected, not helped by the public's relative disenchantment with the team. by Didier Deschamps the little interest in the League of Nations. For the French authorities, it is obviously above all a question of limiting the risks to a minimum and showing clear support for the Jewish community. Like President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Michel Barnier has also announced his presence at the stadium. “ It is about displaying a message of fraternity and solidarity after the intolerable anti-Semitic acts which followed the match in Amsterdam », Commented the Élysée in particular.
Chevalier: “We are aware of what is happening around us”
And the players in all this? The particular atmosphere does not escape them, obviously, but also undoubtedly goes beyond them: “ We will try to act as if it was a normal match but deep down, it is not.commented Lucas Chevalier, who would have done without this subject for his first summons. We are aware of what is happening around us, we have compassion for the events in the Middle East, but our job is football, and we will try to ignore it. ».
