Pro-Palestinian activists demonstrate at the FFF headquarters against the holding of the France-Israel match

Pro-Palestinian activists entered the premises of the French Football Federation (FFF) in Paris on Monday, November 4, to protest against the organization of the Blues’ match against Israel on November 14, Agence France-Presse learned (AFP ) from a spokesperson for the FFF. Around forty demonstrators from the association “Stop Genocide”according to this source, sat in the entrance hall of the Federation, in front of a display case of trophies.

They stayed for about an hour and the principle of a meeting of two of their delegates with a leader of the Federation the next day, Tuesday around 6 p.m. to discuss their requests was noted, it was specified.

According to the media images which accompanied them, the demonstrators notably sang the “Song of the Partisans”a song of the French Resistance from World War II. They brandished or placed on the ground signs with the writing in particular “No to the France-Israel match”, “Genocide Champions League” or asking Fifa, the international federation, to ban Israel.

The French team must face the Israeli team on November 14 for the 5th day of the League of Nations at the Stade de France, “a high-risk match” in the context of war in the Middle East, Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez said on October 17. The meeting will be supervised by “an extremely reinforced security system outside and inside” from the enclosure, he said.

Relocation to Hungary for the first leg

Already in July, during the Paris Olympic Games, a thousand police and gendarmes were mobilized for the men’s football match between Mali and Israel at the Parc des Princes, due to calls for « mobilisation » against the presence of the Israeli delegation in France because of the war in Gaza. No notable incidents had been reported.

On the other hand, in September, Belgium’s home match against Israel in the League of Nations was relocated to Debrecen, Hungary, and was played behind closed doors, after the refusal of several Belgian cities to host the match, fearing excesses. On October 10, during the 3rd day of the League of Nations, the Israel – France match, won 4-1 by the Blues, was also relocated to Hungary, in Budapest.

The meeting took place almost a year to the day after the October 7 attack perpetrated by Hamas on Israeli soil. According to an AFP count based on official Israeli data, 1,206 people died. Of 251 people kidnapped, 97 remain hostages in Gaza, 34 of whom were declared dead by the Jewish state’s army.

In retaliation, the Israeli army launched a devastating offensive in Gaza which left 43,374 dead, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas Ministry of Health released Monday, November 4.