While Laurent Nuñez, the Paris police chief, had banned any flag other than French or Israeli at the Stade de France this Thursday for the match between the Blues and Israel in the League of Nations, some spectators brandished Palestinian flags in the stands at the during the meeting.
An act that could give rise to prosecution. Despite reinforced controls at the entrance to the Stade de France, some French supporters managed to hide Palestinian flags, which they then proudly brandished this Thursday evening during the match between France and Israel on behalf of the League of Nations .
However, Laurent Nuñez, the Paris police chief, had banned any flag other than French or Israeli within the stadium before the match. He specified that Palestinian banners, as well as “messages of a political nature” would be banned.
A police source even indicated that flags representing certain regions of France would also be banned for this tense match in the geopolitical context in the Middle East.
Before the start of the game, the Israeli national anthem was even whistled by part of the French public present at the Stade de France.
4,000 police and gendarmes deployed for this match
A total of 4,000 police officers and gendarmes were deployed for this match, whether around or in the Stade de France, as well as on public transport and throughout Paris. In addition to the police, around 1,600 security agents were mobilized for this meeting, while the RAID ensures the security of the Israel team.
This massive police presence, however, did not make it possible to avoid a crowd movement in the stands, visibly caused by certain Israeli supporters as evidenced by certain videos relayed on social networks.
Questioned by AFP, the police headquarters did not wish to communicate any information, pending clarification on the “still unclear” circumstances of this crowd movement.
