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The 0-0 draw between France and Israel in the Nations League on Thursday night will be remembered for everything other than what happened inside the football pitch. After a long prelude with tension and increased security, the international match began with boos and cheers from the French spectators during Israel’s national anthem.
In the first half, trouble broke out in the stands between Israeli fans and some of the home team’s fans. Local media write that around 50 people were involved in the commotion. Spectators have posted videos of fans with Israeli flags running between the rows of seats at the Stade de France, while other fans cheered and booed. Security personnel in orange vests stepped in and separated the parties. That stopped the commotion that lasted for about two minutes
On a slightly calmer long side, Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, sat and watched the events. The president and the other French spectators were not enriched by a particularly good game from the home team, who burned one chance after the other. A quarter of an hour from time, PSG midfielder Warren Zaïre-Emery had one of the biggest, but he couldn’t get enough speed in his close-range shot.
So it will be everything off the pitch that the game will be remembered for. Leading up to the match, France and Macron had insisted that the high-risk match should not be moved away from the French capital. Instead, security was to be tightened, and 4,000 police officers were deployed in the streets of Paris and at the Stade de France. Some of the officers were inside the stadium itself.
The reason for the increased security must be seen in the light of the riots that occurred after a football match in Amsterdam a week ago. Supporters of the Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv had gone to the Netherlands to watch the Europa League match against the big club Ajax. Subsequently, according to the Amsterdam police, some of them were assaulted by men who chased them. The city’s mayor has referred to the riots as anti-Semitic.
In the days that followed, it emerged that Maccabi supporters had set fire to a Palestinian flag the day before the match. According to the Dutch police, some of the Israelis had also vandalized a taxi.
Israel’s government had urged the country’s residents to stay away from the fight in Paris. But about 100 Israelis defied the recommendation and had made their way to the stadium. In total, there is room for around 80,000 spectators at the stadium, located in the north of Paris. However, there were only about 13,000 for Thursday’s game.
With the 0-0 result, France are certain to progress to the quarter-finals of the Nations League along with Italy, who won 1-0 away to Belgium.
In the Nations League’s B team, England won 3-0 away to Greece. In the C team, Norway won 3-1 away to Slovenia.
Denmark meets Spain in the Parken in its Nations League group on Friday.
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Source: politiken.dk
