a meeting under high security

Armed police officers take position around the Stade de France in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis) from the start of the morning of Thursday November 14. A few hours before the France-Israel match kicks off, the stadium is barricaded. Inside the enclosure, the anti-intrusion grilles have been raised, and black tarpaulins now separate the stands in order to prevent crowd movements.

The match is classified as high risk, according to the Paris police prefect, Laurent Nuñez. Outside the enclosure, barriers are installed to implement double filtering of spectators. As a precautionary measure, businesses are asked to close their doors early in the afternoon. Sized to accommodate 80,000 people, the Stade de France will ring hollow on Thursday evening. Only 15,000 spectators were authorized to come to this League of Nations match, the sporting issue of which seems more than ever relegated to the background.

Watch the full report in the video above.