French police arrest over 400 soccer fans in clashes following Champions League win

Seven officers wounded as tens of thousands of Paris Saint-Germain supporters celebrate team’s victory over Arsenal by firing flares, blocking traffic; far right slams chaos

PARIS, France (AFP) — Police on Saturday detained more than 280 people in Paris after violent clashes erupted when thousands poured onto the streets during Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League final victory.

Some 22,000 police were deployed across France for the game, including 8,000 in Paris, after unrest marred PSG’s win in the competition last year. Paris tram lines were halted, several metro stations shut and bus traffic stopped in places in a bid to minimize disturbances.

According to the French interior ministry, 416 people were detained nationwide, including 283 who were apprehended in Paris. It was not immediately clear how many of these individuals were remanded in custody to face further investigation.

Interior minister Laurent Nunez said seven officers had been wounded and called the unrest “absolutely unacceptable.”

Six vehicles and two businesses were damaged.

A group of supporters also stormed the Paris ring road, the peripherique, bringing traffic to a halt for a time and letting off flares, an AFP photographer said.

As fans celebrated the dramatic penalty shoot-out victory in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, some 20,000 people converged on Paris’s iconic Champs-Élysées avenue, police said.

Shops boarded up their windows ahead of the match to avoid a repeat of disturbances last year when youths ransacked shops on the Champs-Élysées and other streets. Hundreds of people were arrested.

Two dozen flares and about 100 fireworks were seized Saturday, while a bus shelter was destroyed near the Champs-Élysées.

The match also came on a hectic evening in Paris, with singer Aya Nakamura performing at the Stade de France national stadium, rapper Damso at the La Defense Arena and the French Open tennis in full swing.

Police said a bakery and a restaurant were damaged near PSG’s Parc des Princes stadium, where tens of thousands gathered inside to watch the match, but 4,000 to 5,000 people loitered outside with projectiles, which were thrown at officers.

About 150 people “attempted to enter through one of the gates” at the stadium, but police pushed them back, a police spokesperson said.

Some also attempted to erect a barricade with rental bikes, which was cleared by police.

An AFP reporter at the scene said clashes broke out between police and supporters near the stadium, and officers responded with tear gas when fireworks were thrown at them.

‘Only in France’

The scenes angered the French far right, with three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen writing on X that “only in France does a football club’s victory spark riots.”

“Only in France does everyone feel compelled to lock themselves in their homes on the evening of a victory to avoid being confronted with violence,” she added.

Nunez said there was a “very robust, very solid system in place” to curb violence.

“Our responsibility is to guarantee everyone a festive celebration that is calm and fully secure,” a police spokesperson said.

The players will take part in a parade on Sunday afternoon on the Champs-de-Mars in front of the Eiffel Tower, with some 100,000 people expected, before being received by President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace.