(Paris) Around forty people were arrested Thursday, on the sidelines of the France-Israel match at the Stade de France near Paris, transformed into a bunker to avoid any spillover in the middle of the war in the Middle East and after the violence in Amsterdam, a- we learned from a police source.
Posted at 6:39 a.m.
These arrests led to around twenty police custody, but for “nothing serious”, according to the same source, while the two teams drew (0-0) in a three-quarters empty stadium.
The high-risk match held under very high security, with 4,000 police and gendarmes deployed, went “very well from a security point of view,” Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said on France 2 on Friday.
He noted in particular two arrests after an incident in the stands between supporters of the two teams. A police source told AFP that a total of 40 other people had been arrested on the sidelines of the match, without detailing their nationality.
Another police source indicated that these arrests had given rise to “around twenty people in police custody”, but for “nothing serious”.
PHOTO GONZALO FUENTES, REUTERS
An Israeli flag rubs shoulders with an Israeli flag in the stands during the match between France and Israel.
Regarding the incident in the stands, “there was a fight that broke out, which was immediately contained by the stewards,” explained Mr. Nunez. One person was immediately arrested and then a second after the match, thanks to surveillance videos, continued the police prefect without specifying whether the two people in custody were supporters of the French or Israeli team.
According to the first police source, the incidents in the stands followed “attitudes felt to be provocations”. At the end of the match, three Palestinian flags were displayed in the stands, this source said.
In total, according to the same source, 24 people were taken into custody and no injuries were reported.
No incidents were reported around the stadium, neither during the arrival of supporters, nor after the match.
A little over 16,600 spectators attended the match, the lowest attendance in history for a French team match at the Stade de France.
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