© picture alliance / NurPhoto | Jerome Gilles
Not only in Paris, but also in cities such as Rennes, Clermont-Ferrand, Grenoble and Strasbourg, riots erupted on Saturday might, following the PSG's victory in the Champions League.
French soccer club PSG won the final of the Champions League in Budapest on Saturday night, playing against English side, Arsenal. The club from the French capital thus won its second, consecutive title of the world's biggest football club competition. In Paris and elsewhere, it led to exuberant scenes of joy, as well as incidents in the streets, resulting in vandalism and confrontations with the police.
According to a statement by French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, 416 people were arrested across the country, 283 of them in the Paris metropolitan area. In a press conference held on Sunday morning, he reported that the authorities had expected the incidents, but that they were nonetheless "absolutely unacceptable".
In total, riots and destruction occurred in some 15 French cities, including Paris, Rennes, Strasbourg, Clermont-Ferrand and Grenoble. In Agen, between Bordeaux and Toulouse, a policeman was injured.
Four attempts were made to block the périphérique, the ring road that travels around Paris, but law enforcement quickly intervened, Minister Nunez said. Some 150 people tried to enter the Parc des Princes, PSG's home stadium, but police were able to prevent them from entering.
A total of 22,000 law enforcement agents had been mobilized, including 8,000 in and around Paris. "It's our responsibility to guarantee everyone a pleasant, calm and entirely safe popular celebration," the Paris prefecture had stressed. The evening of the Champions League final had been carefully prepared by the prefecture. Other events were taking place in Paris at the same time, including a rugby match, the Roland-Garros tennis tournament and concerts by Aya Nakamura at the Stade de France and Damso at Paris La Défense Arena.
Picture: © picture alliance / NurPhoto | Jerome Gilles