The French police will deploy extra officers and soldiers during the so-called PSG parade in Paris. On Sunday afternoon, supporters of the Parisian football club celebrate the Champions League victory. The match resulted in unrest throughout the country on Saturday evening.
The police in Paris held a press conference on Sunday about the overnight riots. The head of the local police said that a certain group of supporters had given football “a bad reputation.” He emphasized that the police are “only halfway there,” referring to the PSG parade taking place later in the day.
Leading up to the festivities, he announced an increased deployment of officers and soldiers. The parade starts at 5:00 PM on the south side of the Champs-Élysées. The players and staff will ride a bus along the famous avenue towards the Arc de Triomphe. Tens of thousands of supporters are expected.
After Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League victory on Saturday evening, the celebrations turned into riots in several places. The police clashed with supporters of the Parisian club.
The police arrested five hundred rioters. Also, 190 supporters and 9 officers were injured. The police chief also reported the death of a person who was hit by a vehicle in Paris. But it is not yet clear whether that was related to celebrating supporters.
During the riots, fireworks were thrown at officers. The police chief emphasized that where there is celebration, there are also always people looking for trouble. He stressed that a distinction must be made between “the real PSG supporters” and rioters.
Riots in other French cities
The police also shared information about incidents in which firefighters who were extinguishing car fires were attacked by rioters. The police chief praised the emergency workers for their “brave actions.”
Not only in Paris was it restless. There were also incidents in other French cities surrounding the celebration of Paris Saint-Germain’s victory. In Grenoble, four people were injured in a car accident. In the southern French city of Dax, a seventeen-year-old boy was killed in a stabbing.
Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time in club history on Saturday evening. In the final in Munich, the Italian Internazionale was defeated 5-0.