France Tightens Security for Israel Football Match after Clashes in Amsterdam

France's players arrive for a training session at the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on November 13, 2024, on the eve of the UEFA Nations League A Group A2 football match between France and Israel. (AFP)
France's players arrive for a training session at the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on November 13, 2024, on the eve of the UEFA Nations League A Group A2 football match between France and Israel. (AFP)
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France Tightens Security for Israel Football Match after Clashes in Amsterdam

France's players arrive for a training session at the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on November 13, 2024, on the eve of the UEFA Nations League A Group A2 football match between France and Israel. (AFP)
France's players arrive for a training session at the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on November 13, 2024, on the eve of the UEFA Nations League A Group A2 football match between France and Israel. (AFP)

French authorities have stepped up security in Paris ahead of a France-Israel football match on Thursday, hoping to avoid a repeat of violent clashes between locals and Israeli fans in Amsterdam last week.

The Nations League match at the Stade de France comes at a fraught moment, with diplomatic relations between French President Emmanuel Macron and Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu strained by Israel's war in Gaza.

Some 4,000 police will secure the event, deployed in the stadium, outside the ground and on public transport, the Paris police force said.

"It's an exceptional measure, three to four times greater than what we usually mobilize," Paris police chief Laurent Nunez told RTL radio on Wednesday.

Only French and Israel flags would be allowed inside the stadium, he added.

Macron will attend the game in a show of solidarity, while Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said after the Amsterdam clashes there was never any question the game would go ahead as planned.

Still, turnout will likely be low, with just 20,000 fans expected in the 80,000 capacity stadium north of Paris.

French supporters' group Les Irreductibles Français conducted a survey among its members, which showed 15% would boycott the match due to the Israel-Gaza war, while around 30% cited "security risks."

Passions over Israel's conduct in Gaza run high in France, home to Europe's largest Jewish and Muslim communities. Reports of anti-Semitic acts increased by an "unprecedented" 284% in 2023, France's Human rights commission said in June, while anti-Muslim acts rose around a third.

Israeli soccer fans and locals clashed in Amsterdam last week, with at least five Israelis injured after Maccabi Tel Aviv's Europa League game at Ajax.

Aurélien Bernheïm, co-founder of the Movement for French Jews, a right-wing Zionist youth group, said around 30 of his organization's members would attend the match.

"But I won't hide it, many of these young people were scared to go as they had in their heads these appalling images from Amsterdam," he said.

Walid Attalah, president of the Associations of Palestinians in Ile de France, said the match should have been cancelled.

"Russia has been banned because there was the occupation of Ukraine, it was illegal, there were war crimes, but Israel is never sanctioned for what it does," he said.

Some supporters, however, shrugged off concerns.

"I'm not worried," said Yannick Vanhee, who leads a French supporters association in Dunkirk. "Authorities have been putting more and more security into these events."



PSG Finally Shows it Can Shine in Champions League Without Mbappé

PSG's Goncalo Ramos celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City at the Parc des Princes in Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
PSG's Goncalo Ramos celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City at the Parc des Princes in Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
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PSG Finally Shows it Can Shine in Champions League Without Mbappé

PSG's Goncalo Ramos celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City at the Parc des Princes in Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
PSG's Goncalo Ramos celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City at the Parc des Princes in Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Paris Saint-Germain finally showed it can shine in the Champions League without star Kylian Mbappé, rallying from 2-0 down in the second half to beat Manchester City 4-2 for a crucial victory Wednesday.
The win moved PSG out of the elimination zone in the competition's new-look format and dumped City in it with one game to play.
PSG’s re-designed attack finally clicked with four different scorers rather than relying too heavily on one to make the difference.
PSG winger Bradley Barcola scored one goal and set up another for France teammate Ousmane Dembélé, and midfielder Joao Neves headed in the third before striker Gonçalo Ramos rammed in the fourth in stoppage time, The Associated Press reported.
The French team has struggled for goals in the competition since Mbappé’s offseason departure for Real Madrid, netting just six in six games before City's visit and being blanked in defeats to Arsenal and Bayern Munich.
PSG coach Luis Enrique said before facing City that the solution up front would come from more teamwork rather than hoping another player can emulate Mbappé, who scored 44 goals last season and helped PSG reach the Champions League semifinals.
City manager Pep Guardiola acknowledged his team was outplayed.
“We have to accept it. In transitions we could not cope with them, they were faster,” he said. “I give credit to PSG. When one team is better I have no problem to accept it. All of them they played really good. It’s not a specific (player)."
Mbappé's move to Madrid forced Enrique to improvise with his lineups all season.
This time, 19-year-old winger Désiré Doué played as a makeshift striker even though center forward Ramos was available for this game where both teams were at risk of failing to advance to the knockout stage.
City led 2-0 after 53 minutes but PSG were level by the hour mark after some inspirational play down the left from Barcola. He skipped past Savinho before picking out Dembélé near the penalty spot, and then the 22-year-old Barcola equalized by squeezing a shot in off the left post after Doué’s effort came back off the crossbar.
The diminutive Neves stooped to head in a free kick from the right in the 78th minute.
Dembélé also hit the crossbar with a rasping shot with 20 minutes left and PSG had two other goals ruled out for offside.