The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, unveiled this Friday the security system planned in the capital and throughout France on the occasion of the final and the small final of the World Cup. In the company of Christian Rodriguez, the director general of the national gendarmerie, Frédéric Veaux, the director general of the national police and Laurent Nuñez, the prefect of police of Paris, he notably announced the mobilization of 14,000 police officers and gendarmes on the whole territory for the Argentina-France match on Sunday. For the small final, which will oppose Croatia and Morocco on Saturday, 12,840 members of the police will be mobilized.
In Ile-de-France, there will be 3,600 police or gendarmes on the bridge on Saturday, including 2,450 in Paris and in the inner suburbs, concentrated mainly around the Champs-Élysées. They will be 4050 in Ile-de-France on Sunday, including 2750 in the Paris area. “We will carry out checks on departure in stations in the inner suburbs and on the lines leading to the Champs-Elysées, said Laurent Nuñez. This is to prevent the mortars from arriving in Paris”. And to add: “We will mark out the whole of the Champs-Élysées to protect the businesses”. He also announces that the police will intervene as soon as facts are committed.
The most beautiful avenue in the world will be entirely pedestrian and exits from the ring road will be closed. In the event of a victory for France on Sunday, between 300,000 and 600,000 people are expected on the Champs-Elysées, specifies the police headquarters.
For the France-Morocco semi-final on Wednesday evening, the police headquarters had planned a strong system with 10,000 police officers mobilized throughout France, including 2,200 in the capital, almost double that in the quarter-finals last Saturday. .
The Ministry of the Interior had already chosen not to close the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, where thousands of supporters were able to celebrate the qualification of the Blues, watched by many police officers.
A few clashes after the semi-final
The celebrations went off without noticeable clashes in the capital, apart from some projectile throwing and mortar fire. Several incidents have nevertheless been observed in Île-de-France and the police have carried out 266 arrests throughout the territory (145 in Paris).
In Montpellier, a teenager died on Wednesday evening after being run over by a driver in the sensitive district of Paillade.
And in Paris, a group of ultra-right activists who were about to take action were arrested in the 17th arrondissement. The members of the commando were placed in police custody, in particular for carrying prohibited weapons. The police finally intervened in Lyon to put an end to a brawl between supporters and other far-right activists.
The Minister of the Interior considered that comments by political leaders “after the heroic qualification” of Morocco for the semi-finals or “affirming that the France team would not really be French” could have motivated these small groups. The authorities intend to follow these groups “come to do the punch, or even more”.