Police arrested more than 200 people in Paris on Saturday after violent clashes broke out when thousands took to the streets during Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League final victory.
Some 22,000 police officers were deployed across France for the match, including 8,000 in Paris, after unrest marred PSG’s victory in the competition last year. Parisian tram lines were stopped, several metro stations closed and bus traffic was interrupted in places in order to minimize disruption.
According to the French Interior Ministry, 326 people were arrested across the country, including 235 arrested in Paris. It was not immediately clear how many of those people had been detained for further investigation.
Six vehicles and two businesses were damaged. A police officer was also injured, the Paris police headquarters said.
A group of supporters also stormed the Paris ring road, temporarily stopping traffic and throwing flares. AFP said the photographer.
As fans celebrated the dramatic penalty shootout victory in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, some 20,000 people converged on Paris’ iconic Champs-Élysées avenue, police said.
Stores closed their windows before the match to avoid a repeat of last year’s unrest, when youths ransacked stores on the Champs-Élysées and other streets. Hundreds of people were arrested.
Two dozen flares and around a hundred fireworks were seized on Saturday, while a bus shelter was destroyed near the Champs-Élysées.
The match also took place on an eventful Parisian evening, with singer Aya Nakamura at the Stade de France national stadium, rapper Damso at La Défense Arena and the French Open tennis tournament in full swing.
Police said a bakery and restaurant were damaged near PSG’s Parc des Princes stadium, where tens of thousands of people gathered inside to watch the match, but 4,000 to 5,000 people loitered outside with projectiles thrown at police.
Around 150 people “tried to enter through one of the doors” of the stadium, but police pushed them back, a police spokesperson said.
Some also tried to erect a barricade with rental bikes, which was cleared by police.
According to an AFP journalist present on the scene, clashes broke out between police and supporters near the stadium, and the police responded with tear gas when fireworks were thrown at them.
“Only in France”
These scenes angered the French far right, with three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen writing on X that “only in France does the victory of a football club trigger riots”.
“It is only in France that everyone feels obliged to lock themselves in their homes on the evening of a victory to avoid being confronted with violence,” she added.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said there was a “very robust and very solid system” to combat violence.
“Our responsibility is to guarantee everyone a peaceful and safe festive celebration,” said a police spokesperson.
The players will take part in a parade on the Champs-de-Mars in front of the Eiffel Tower on Sunday afternoon, with some 100,000 people expected, before being received by President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysée.
