The Champions League showpiece between Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona will go ahead as planned on Tuesday in Paris, the French interior minister confirmed despite violent weekend protests.
Many French citizens have been left shocked by the images of violence that have drawn worldwide attention and highlighted the country's tense social climate. On Monday, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said he instructed prefects to impose “very limited” and “localized” curfews in cities to prevent more rioting and looting.
The violence targeted city halls, other public buildings and hundreds of businesses across the country, leading to more than 2,000 arrests.
Tuesday's match between PSG and Barcelona at the Parc des Princes will require a robust security deployment, with police forces already strained following weeks of student protests.
In May, Paris police detained dozens of people after violence disrupted celebrations of PSG's second Champions League title and a group tried to storm a police station.
Speaking after an emergency meeting with top government officials, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the possibility of calling off planned events was discussed, including soccer matches.
“But this does not apply to tomorrow’s match between PSG and FC Barcelona,” he said.
Nuñez added that other matches planned in European competitions this week would not be affected. He mentioned the match between Lille and Galatasaray scheduled on Wednesday in the northern city, where looters also vandalized shops over the weekend.
Asked whether the tensions in France could affect his team, PSG coach Luis Enrique said it would not, and that he was not scared.
“I'm not the right person to speak about this topic,” he added. “I'm here to speak about football. For sure we don't like this violence but that is how it is in society. So we just need to stay focused on the football match.”
Nuñez did not mention the NFL game in Paris between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints. The NFL said last week it remains scheduled as planned. The teams are set to play Sunday at Stade de France in what would be the NFL’s first regular-season game in Paris, where events are also planned for football fans during the week.
Nuñez offered his resignation on Sunday but French President Emmanuel Macron asked him to stay to respond to police needs in an emergency situation. Macron instructed Nuñez “to take all necessary steps to ensure full transparency about the failures in planning and intelligence-gathering that led to the violence.”
Lecornu said details of the areas to be placed under curfew will be provided later.
Nuñez acknowledged that authorities “lost control” in some major cities on Saturday, when hundreds of businesses were looted.
___
Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report.
___
See AP’s full soccer coverage here
