The authorities are convinced: the negative temperatures expected over a large part of France on Wednesday evening will not dampen the enthusiasm of football fans. Whatever the result of the match between France and Morocco, the police expect many spontaneous gatherings in Paris and in major cities after this semi-final. Already last Saturday, nearly 20,000 of them met spontaneously on the Champs-Elysées at 7 p.m.
For the party to go off without a hitch, Gérald Darmanin announced this Tuesday evening, before the National Assembly, the mobilization of 10,000 police and gendarmes in France. In detail, half of the workforce will be deployed in Ile-de-France, including 2,200 in Paris, particularly around the Champs-Elysées. The device was therefore doubled in France compared to that of Saturday (5,000 police officers were mobilized, including 1,200 in Paris). “It’s a game at stake, we know that there will necessarily be people in the street, explains a source familiar with the matter. It is therefore a question of anticipating a maximum of difficulties. There are not only security risks, there is also flow management to avoid crowd movement. “Checks ahead of gathering places and the closing of certain gates of the ring road are planned.
“This is the reality of numbers”
How many will there be on Wednesday evening on the Champs-Elysées? If usually, this kind of event takes place in summer and therefore attracts many onlookers, the exceptional poster could bring tens of thousands of football fans to the streets, say the authorities. On the one hand, the France team could qualify for its second consecutive final. On the other hand, the Morocco team arouses a particular fervor that goes far beyond the borders of the kingdom. “And there are a number of dual nationals who could go down to party in one case or the other”, blows a police source.
Last week, despite a hundred arrests in Paris, mainly for fireworks mortar fire, no major incident was to be deplored. “Three windows had glass breakage, three scooters experienced damage, this is the reality of the figures in Paris”, insisted Gérald Darmanin in the Hemicycle in the face of insistent questions from the RN. The tenant of Place Beauvau specified that three quarters of those arrested were French.
Finally, according to a police source, places likely to accommodate large crowds must be emptied of their trash cans, site barriers or any other element likely to be used as a weapon by destination.