The French team will face the Israeli team in a football match at the Stade de France this Thursday, November 14. The spectators will be few in number unlike the police, but excesses and violence are always feared.
The meeting is maintained, but the tension is still palpable. The football match between France and Israel will take place at the Stade de France, this Thursday, November 14 from 8:45 p.m. A decision taken by the Minister of the Interior, despite fears about possible anti-Semitic violence and requests for cancellations made by certain politicians, in particular elected officials from La France insoumise. Tensions reignited by the violence that occurred in Amsterdam last Thursday after a match between Maccabi Tel-Avi and Ajax.
The France and Israel teams will therefore play their Nations League match in front of spectators in the stands. But the meeting will be marked by an ultra-reinforced presence of the police: there will be 4,000 police officers and gendarmes to be deployed around the Stade de France and in Paris. In detail, 2,500 people will secure the stadium grounds, helped by the presence of 1,600 stewards mobilized by the French Football Federation inside the infrastructure. The other 1,500 members of the police will patrol public transport and certain areas of the capital frequented by supporters.
Only 20,000 supporters expected
The security system and the numbers mobilized are colossal, especially considering the number of supporters expected in the stands. The French Football Federation expects, at most, 20,000 people at the Stade de France for the Blues’ match against the Israeli team, very little compared to the capacity of 80,000 seats. The record for the worst attendance would then be broken. And of these thousands of supporters, only 100 to 150 are expected to sit in the Israeli stands accessible to people who purchased their tickets from the Israel Football Federation. Among these, some made the trip from the Jewish state on purpose, ignoring the recommendations of Israeli authorities who called on nationals to avoid the meeting. Other Israeli supporters residing in France should be present, but will not sit in these stands.
It is to protect these supporters of anti-Semitic violence, and more broadly to avoid any confrontation on the sidelines of the match, that so many police forces were mobilized. “We must at all costs avoid having the same scenes at home,” explained a security source to Parisian. “We will be watched all over the world. It’s almost like the Olympics: you can’t miss it.”
Security perimeter, identity check, search and pat-down
Preventive security measures will be taken ahead of the match, in particular the closure of businesses, including restaurants and bars, which surround the Stadium square from 3:45 p.m., five hours before the match, in order to avoid gatherings as much as possible. Access to the Stade de France will also be secure as indicated by the Paris police prefect, Laurent Nuñez on BFMTV Sunday November 10: “There will be a double check [et] a security perimeter around the anti-terrorist stadium.
To access the enclosure you will need to present your tickets which are strictly nominative as well as an identity document. A search and pat-down will also be mandatory to enter the stadium. Several items were also banned: backpacks, liquid containers such as bottles, water bottles or cans as well as Palestinian flags. Only French and Israeli flags will be authorized to support the teams present on the field.
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18:30 – Empty stands for security and political reasons
Tickets for the France – Israel match are having difficulty selling: out of the 80,000 seats at the Stade de France, only 20,000 will be occupied tomorrow evening during the match according to estimates from the French Football Federation. Several reasons explain this lack of enthusiasm, starting with fears concerning excesses and violence on the sidelines of the match, anti-Semitic violence of course but also wider clashes in response. To reassure the public and as a security measure, the system securing the match which was already substantial was revised upwards with no less than 4,000 members of the police in addition to 1,600 stewards: i.e. no more than 1 staff supposed to maintain security for 3 supporters. But nothing helps, fears persist and Israeli authorities have advised Israelis not to attend the meeting.
But there is also a political reason with the boycott of the match by certain supporters. A boycott organized to oppose Israeli policy and the attacks carried out by its army in the Gaza Strip and in recent months in Lebanon. The strikes supposed to target Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon have caused huge numbers of civilian casualties and the UN has denounced certain actions as potentially amounting to war crimes. For these same reasons, tension has risen between Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.