At the final whistle, 0-0: despite a brief incident in the stands, the football match between France and Israel took place peacefully on Thursday evening at the Stade de France, where an exceptional security system had been put in place after last week’s violence on the sidelines of a Maccabi Tel-Aviv match in Amsterdam.
The supporters left the Saint-Denis stadium without incident a little before 11 p.m., according to AFP journalists.
A brief crowd movement occurred in an upper stand during the first period, leading to the intervention of stewards to prevent Israeli supporters from mixing with French fans, noted an AFP journalist.
In images obtained by AFP, we can see spectators exchanging blows in a stand, one of whom carries an Israeli flag on his shoulders.
“There was a crowd movement, with a lot of people running in the opposite direction to the Israeli side, but we didn’t really understand what happened,” says Kévin Da Silva, 28, who left the stadium before the end of the match, after experiencing the “worst atmosphere” he had ever experienced for a France team match.
Questioned by AFP, the police headquarters did not wish to communicate any information.
In the south stand, some supporters took out Palestinian flags, applauded by others, before security intervened to remove them, noted an AFP journalist in the stadium. Only French and Israeli flags were allowed; Palestinian banners, as well as messages of a political nature, were prohibited.
The sporting stakes of this meeting in the Paris suburbs counting for the League of Nations were largely eclipsed by the geopolitical context.
Swiss
