The football match between the French team and the Israeli team, which will be played on the afternoon of Thursday, November 14 at the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis), will take place with a security system “extremely reinforced”said the Paris police prefect, Laurent Nuñez, on Sunday, November 10, on BFM-TV.
The meeting had long been identified as “at risk” by football authorities and authorities, taking into account the international context. But the violence that occurred on the night of November 7-8, when Maccabi Tel-Aviv fans were attacked in Amsterdam after a Europa League match against Ajax, reignited fears about the security of the event.
The system adopted by the prefecture is “very unusual” for a selection meeting, Núñez acknowledged. Four thousand police and gendarmes will be mobilized – “compared to the 1,200-1,300 of the French team’s matches when we are in a sold-out stadium”. They will be deployed around the Stade de France, but also inside it, on public transport and even in Paris.
Nearly 1,600 security officers will also be present at the Stade de France and the RAID, the elite unit of the national police, will be responsible for the security of the Israel team, he continued explaining the work in “close collaboration” with the Israeli authorities. “But the security (…) “It is under the French authorities.”he insisted.
No small number of spectators.
“The minister [de l’intérieur] has put at my disposal means of internal security that will allow us to be extremely reactive and avoid any excess, any disturbance of public order, whether during the match, or in the vicinity of the match, or in the path of the spectators. who will go to the game »argued Mr. Núñez.
The controls will also be “extremely reinforced”with double identity verification, “search and palpation” : at the security perimeter maintained by the police, then at the entrance to the premises.
The police do not “asked for limited tonnage” for this meeting, the police chief said. The France-Israel poster should be held in front of a small audience: according to several sources, the French Football Federation had not yet sold, on Friday night, the equivalent of the number of seats in the Parc des Princes, 47,000 tickets, so that the Stade de France has capacity for 80,000 people.
