Pace reseller of tickets or scarves or hot dog stands… This Thursday evening, along the alley of the Stade de France, which connects the RER B station to the 80,000-seat enclosure where the Blues have were crowned world champions in 1998, we only find police officers, gendarmes and CRS. “We feel safe, there is nothing to complain about,” concedes Steve, 42, who came with his son Luca. But for a moment we still wondered if the match was taking place today and if we hadn't had the wrong day.”
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However no, it was on November 14, 2024 that the match between the French team and Israel took place, counting for the UEFA Nations League. A match deemed “high risk” by Paris police prefect Laurent Nunez. As a result, an exceptional security system has been put in place: 4,000 police officers and 1,600 security agents deployed in Paris, transport, around and within the Stadium. To take a seat in the stands, you had to present your ID four times and undergo two body searches. Or more or less the device used during the Olympics But with a fervor divided by a thousand. Finally, backpacks were banned like Palestinian flags.
ALSO READ France-Israel match: “I have decided not to be afraid, a Jew must not bow down in 2024”This meeting took place in a context of conflict in the Middle East and anti-Semitic violence that occurred on the sidelines of the Ajax Amsterdam – Maccabi Tel-Aviv meeting a week earlier. Several Israeli fans were targeted and attacked after the match.
An “anti-Amsterdam”
Suffice to say that this evening, the sporting issue was eclipsed by geopolitics. This match must be an “anti-Amsterdam”, warned the president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (Crif), Yonathan Arfi, while the Israeli government advised its supporters not to make the trip to Seine-Saint- Denis for the match.
ALSO READ Violence in Amsterdam, the investigation is moving forwardIf the stands sounded sadly empty – no more than 15,000 spectators were present, half as many as the worst audience in the history of the French team in this stadium –, political figures came en masse to “send a message of fraternity and solidarity” with Israel. Alongside Emmanuel Macron sat his predecessors François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy; Prime Minister Michel Barnier, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau; the Minister of Sports Gil Avérous, the former Prime Minister Manuel Valls and the president of the Île-de-France region Valérie Pécresse.
A few minutes before kick-off, the President of the Republic assured that France “will not give in to anti-Semitism”, responding to the request of the head of Israeli diplomacy, a few hours earlier, to ensure security of the hundred or so Israeli supporters who made the trip.
“This empty stadium, it pinches my heart”
Despite the heavy atmosphere that reigned around the match, Elie did not want to miss it. Under no circumstances. To mark the occasion, he came with the two flags: the French and the Israeli. “Seeing this empty stadium, I can’t hide from you that it pinches my heart. This match should have been a happy interlude in a period which is not, it’s a failure,” he concedes.
In fact, the first whistles erupted from the stands when the Israeli composition was announced, which is not unusual for players facing France. The Israeli anthem was whistled more – which is rarer – and the technical teams at the Stade de France had to turn up the sound of the speakers to saturation to mask the whistles which continued every time an Israeli player touched the ball. “We kind of expected it, we’re not going to lie,” reacts an Israeli supporter from the Paris region. But whistling the anthem like that is hard to live with.”
“France does not back down from anti-Semitism”
A relocation of the match to another stadium in France had been mentioned but the hypothesis was brushed aside by Bruno Retailleau. “France is not backing down, that would amount to abdicating in the face of violent threats and anti-Semitism,” declared the Minister of the Interior. Although no incidents were reported around the stadium, the gloomy atmosphere during the match appeared to be a missed bet for the Beauvau tenant.
ALSO READ Retailleau on the front line against anti-Semitism?Crowd movements from the 10th minute near the Israeli parking lot (where there were official supporters of the Israeli selection separated from independent Israeli supporters, in the north turn), forced the establishment of a security cordon at the level of the The central ring of the stand but the atmosphere remained calm in the first half. Some slogans “free our hostages” were heard, in reference to the hostages still in the hands of Hamas after the attack of October 7, 2023.
On the field, because it was a football match, the spectacle did not hide the strange atmosphere of this meeting. After a painful first half not saved by the second, the two teams separated with a sad 0-0 giving the sensation that this evening, no one came out a winner from the Stade de France.
