The Football match between the Blues and the Israel team will be held at the Stade de France this Thursday, November 14. The meeting will be secured by 4,000 members of the security forces, while around a hundred Israeli supporters are expected.
The football match between the French team and that of Israel will take place this Thursday, November 14, at 8:45 p.m., at the Stade de France. “Question of principle” assured the Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, after having confirmed the continuation of the meeting of the League of Nations, despite fears concerning excesses and anti-Semitic violence. Fears revived by the violence observed in Amsterdam last Thursday after a match between Macabi Tel-Avi and Ajax. “France is not backing down because that would amount to abdicating in the face of threats of violence and in the face of anti-Semitism,” added the Minister of the Interior on X. A decision supported by the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (Crif) . At the same time, other politicians mainly from La France insoumise, including Mathilde Panot and Louis Boyard, requested the cancellation of the match.
If the match is maintained, it will be placed under close surveillance: 4,000 members of the police will be mobilized around the Stade de France and in Paris. In detail, 2,500 police officers and gendarmes will secure the stadium grounds and will be helped by the presence of 1,400 to 1,600 stewards mobilized by the French Football Federation inside the infrastructure. The other 1,500 members of the police will patrol public transport and certain areas of the capital frequented by supporters.
Only 20,000 supporters expected
The security system and the numbers mobilized are colossal, especially considering the number of supporters expected in the stands. The French Football Federation expects, at most, 20,000 people at the Stade de France for the Blues' match against the Israeli team, very few compared to the stadium's capacity of 80,000. And of those thousands of fans, only 100 to 150 are expected to sit in the visitor stands accessible to people who purchased their tickets from the Israel Football Federation. Among these, some made the trip from the Jewish state on purpose, ignoring the recommendations of Israeli authorities who called on nationals to avoid the meeting. Other Israeli supporters residing in France should be present, but will not sit in these stands.
It is to protect these supporters of anti-Semitic violence, and more broadly to avoid any confrontation on the sidelines of the match, that so many police forces were mobilized. “We must at all costs avoid having the same scenes at home,” explained a security source to Parisian. “We will be watched all over the world. It’s almost like the Olympics: you can’t miss it.”
Security perimeter, identity check, search and pat-down
Preventive security measures will be taken ahead of the match, in particular the closure of businesses, including restaurants and bars, which surround the Stadium square from 3:45 p.m., five hours before the match, in order to avoid gatherings as much as possible. Access to the Stade de France will also be secure as indicated by the Paris police prefect, Laurent Nuñez on BFMTV Sunday November 10: “There will be a double check [et] a security perimeter around the anti-terrorist stadium.
To access the enclosure you will need to present your tickets which are strictly nominative as well as an identity document. A search and pat-down will also be mandatory to enter the stadium. Several items were also banned: backpacks, liquid containers such as bottles, water bottles or cans as well as Palestinian flags. Only French and Israeli flags will be authorized to support the teams present on the field.
Israeli demonstrations before the France – Israel match
If the Israeli authorities call on its nationals not to go to the sporting event, other Jewish and Israeli organizations plan to make themselves heard before and during the match. A demonstration is also planned in Paris on Wednesday November 13, on the eve of the match, by an international Jewish movement. “We are outraged by what happened in Amsterdam and by the reaction of governments,” said the president of the World Betar umbrella organization, Yigal Brand, in a statement. And added: “We are proud Zionists and have no reason to apologize (…) We will gather on Wednesday in Paris and Thursday at the football match which is also threatened by jihadists.”
The President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron will also be present at Thursday's match. A way of reassuring the security of the event and expressing a “gesture of solidarity and fraternity” to Israel in a tense geopolitical context, according to the entourage of the Head of State at Parisian.
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