It is expected that there will be a lot of police but very few visiting fans. france host Israel at a Nations League soccer match on Thursday, a week after violence erupted in Amsterdam following a visit by an Israeli club team.
French police chief Laurent Nunez said 4,000 police officers and security guards would be deployed around the Stade de France and an additional 1,500 police would be deployed on public transportation.
Authorities in Paris are on high alert following violence that broke out in Amsterdam before and after the Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Dutch authorities said fans of both sides were involved in the incident. The attack on Maccabi fans sparked outrage and was widely condemned as anti-Semitic.
“What I learned from Amsterdam is that you have to be present in public places away from the stadium and on public transport before and after the game,” Núñez told French news broadcaster France Info on Thursday.
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Three months after hosting the Olympics’ closing ceremony, the mood has changed from celebration to fear, with three-quarters of the national stadium expected to be empty for the games. French President Emmanuel Macron and French Interior Minister Bruno Ritero are scheduled to attend. Former Presidents François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy are also scheduled to attend.
It was reported that only 20,000 of the 80,000 tickets were sold, and about 150 Israeli supporters attended with police escort.
“We tried to prepare for this match as normally as possible. But no one on our team can be insensitive to such a difficult situation.” France coach Didier Deschamps said Wednesday. “It will have an impact on the number of supporters attending tomorrow and everything that comes with it.”
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The away match against Israel was held in Budapest, Hungary on October 10, in which France won 4-1.
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“Situations like this are not what the players are used to,” Deschamps said. “But we have to adapt.”
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The low number of visiting fans comes after Israel’s National Security Council warned citizens abroad to avoid sporting and cultural events, particularly the Paris games.
Retailleau told French news channel TF1 on Tuesday that no specific threat had been identified, but that “there is no such thing as zero risk.”
Therefore, exceptional measures are being taken “before, during and after the game,” he said.
The stadium will be staffed by the French police’s elite tactical unit, known as RAID, with some officers expected to mingle with fans in plainclothes. There will also be close surveillance within Paris, including Jewish places of worship and schools.
“It is impossible to risk a repeat of the dramatic events and searches we saw in Amsterdam,” Ritejo said, adding that it would not be possible to postpone or move the games elsewhere.
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“France will not surrender and the France-Israel match will take place where it is scheduled to take place,” he said.
In Amsterdam, a large group of Maccabi fans attacked a taxi and chanted anti-Arab slogans, while some men launched “hit-and-run” attacks on people they thought were Jewish, according to Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema.
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After the match, a large group of Maccabee supporters armed with sticks ran around to “destroy objects,” according to a 12-page violence report issued by Amsterdam authorities.
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He also said, “The rioters moved in small groups on foot, on scooters and in cars, and quickly attacked the Maccabi fans before disappearing.”
Protests erupted in Paris on Wednesday night against a controversial gala event hosted by far-right supporters of Israel.
The match, held in Saint-Denis, a northern Paris suburb, is scheduled to kick off at 8:45pm local time (1945 GMT).
At 6pm local time, a pro-Palestinian protest was organized in Place Saint-Denis to protest against the game.
Nine years ago, the Stade de France was one of several sites where the November 13 terrorist attacks killed 130 people. That night, France was playing Germany when two explosions occurred outside the stadium.
German Deschamps coach Joachim Löw and all his players stayed together in the locker room for several hours until it was safe to leave.
“It’s a sad day to think about what happened in 2015,” Deschamps said.
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