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."



Man City Have the Spirit to Weather the Storm, Dias Says

Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola gives instructions to Manchester City's Portuguese defender #03 Ruben Dias from the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on December 1, 2024. (AFP)
Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola gives instructions to Manchester City's Portuguese defender #03 Ruben Dias from the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on December 1, 2024. (AFP)
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Man City Have the Spirit to Weather the Storm, Dias Says

Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola gives instructions to Manchester City's Portuguese defender #03 Ruben Dias from the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on December 1, 2024. (AFP)
Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola gives instructions to Manchester City's Portuguese defender #03 Ruben Dias from the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on December 1, 2024. (AFP)

Manchester City have the character to come through the rough patch of form that saw the defending champions slump to a fourth straight Premier League defeat at Liverpool on Sunday, defender Ruben Dias said.

Goals from Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah gave leaders Liverpool a 2-0 win at Anfield which left City 11 points behind Arne Slot's side in fifth place.

City, who lost four league games in a row for the first time since 2008, are winless in their last seven matches in all competitions, a run that includes six defeats and a 3-3 draw at home against Feyenoord in the Champions League.

They have conceded 19 goals during the winless streak, shipping four in matches against Tottenham Hotspur and Sporting. Prior to the slump they had conceded 11 in 14 games.

"I will not talk about the little details but focus on the bigger picture," said Dias, who was at fault in the lead up to Liverpool's second.

"That is, even though it was a difficult moment I did see a lot of character and I did see the fans behind us and that is the only way we are going to go through it."

City, who have won six of the last seven Premier League titles, have been hit hard by injuries to key players such as Rodri, Mateo Kovacic and John Stones but manager Pep Guardiola has been able to guide the side through injury crises in previous seasons.

"This is just part of our legacy. We have won so much and still we are where we are and this happens," Dias added.

"We have been able to be versatile, adapt and keep on moving forward and thinking one game at a time... That is what we need to get back to."