No incidents during the France-Israel match in a sparse Stade de France

The football match organized this Thursday at the Stade de France took place ; in calm while very strong measures have been taken.

The match is still on, but the tension is still palpable. The football match between France and Israel did indeed take place at the Stade de France on Thursday, November 14. A decision endorsed by the Minister of the Interior, despite fears of possible anti-Semitic violence and requests for cancellations made by certain politicians, including elected officials from La France Insoumise. Tensions revived by the violence that occurred Amsterdam last Thursday after a match between Maccabi Tel-Avi and Ajax.

The French and Israeli teams played their Nations League match in front of spectators in the stands. But the match was marked by an extremely reinforced presence of law enforcement: 4,000 police officers and gendarmes were deployed around the Stade de France and in Paris. In detail, 2,500 people secure the stadium grounds, aided by the presence of 1,600 stewards mobilized by the French Football Federation inside the infrastructure. The other 1,500 members of the police force patrol public transport and certain areas of the capital frequented by supporters. The French and Paris region authorities have taken three strong measures to secure this match:

• A preventive and drastic security system around the stadium: closure of shops, including restaurants and bars, surrounding the stadium forecourt from 3:45 p.m., five hours before the match, in order to avoid gatherings as much as possible. Access to the Stade de France is also secured with a double check [and] a security perimeter around the anti-terrorist stadium”.
• A very strict protocol to enter the stadium: to access the enclosure you must present your tickets which are strictly nominative as well as an identity document. A search and frisking are also mandatory to allow each individual to enter the stadium. Several items have also been prohibited: backpacks, liquid containers such as bottles, flasks or cans as well as Palestinian flags. Only French and Israeli flags will be allowed to support the teams present on the pitch.
• In the stadium, grilles have been installed at the foot of all the stands, to prevent any intrusion onto the pitch and to prevent disruption of the match. These grilles had been placed at the foot of the bends during the Coupe de France final in 2016 between OM and PSG, but only on the bends.

Only 20,000 supporters expected

Israel has also sent a very strong message, strongly recommending that nationals of the Hebrew State avoid the match and not travel to Saint-Denis for the match. 20,000 people were expected at the Stade de France for the match between Les Bleus and the Israeli team, very few compared to the capacity of 80,000 seats. The record for the worst attendance would then be broken. And of these thousands of supporters, only 100 150 sat in the Israeli stands accessible to those who bought their tickets from the Israel Football Association. Among them, some made the trip from the Hebrew state on purpose.

It was to protect these supporters from anti-Semitic violence, and more broadly to avoid any clashes on the sidelines of the match, that so many police forces were mobilized.  "We must at all costs avoid having the same scenes at home", a security source explained to Parisien. "We will be watched around the world. It's like the Olympics or almost: you can't mess up.”

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23:12 – A calm post-match

Most spectators left the Stade de France and the post-match period was peaceful. Three Palestinian flags were unfurled by spectators. They were confiscated by security officers. Beyond of the sporting stakes, the meeting took place in a particular context, against the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East and the fight against anti-Semitism.

21:32 – Brawl between supporters in the stands

The stands at the Stade de France were not very full for the match played at the Stade de France. This did not prevent several incidents, according to various witnesses. There were reportedly several fights between French and Israeli supporters.

21:02 – The Israeli anthem whistled by some supporters

As for the anthems, Israel's was partly booed by the supporters present at the stadium. The volume was turned up to try to drown out the reaction of some fans in the mostly empty stands. Less than 20,000 spectators took to the Saint-Denis stadium for the match. The worst attendance in the last 25 years, excluding Covid gauges.

20:27 – Emmanuel Macron hopes for a “smooth match”

Emmanuel Macron and his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog spoke a few hours before the meeting. The President of the Republic assured of the “mobilization of France” for a “smooth running of the match”. “The Head of State presented to each of them the security arrangements set up and assured them of France's mobilization to ensure the smooth running of the match,” according to the “Eacute;lys”. “France will remain intractable with regard to anti-Semitism, wherever it manifests itself,” affirmed the French head of state.

19:39 – A pro-Palestinian demonstration near the Stade de France

Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered on Thursday, a few hours before the kick-off of the France-Israel match. They gathered at Place du Front-Populaire, about 4 kilometers from the Stade de France. “We don't play with genocide,” they chanted to protest the holding of the match. LFI MP Eric Coquerel spoke out in particular on site. "There is a first victory: there will only be 20,000 spectators at the stadium. The supporters of the French team have boycotted this match," he said. 

18:43 – Israel asks France to ensure the safety of its supporters

France must ensure the safety of Israeli supporters during the match between Les Bleus and Israel, demanded the head of Israeli diplomacy Gideon Saar. “The safety of Israeli supporters must be ensured,” he declared. The security arrangements surrounding the match are extremely reinforced. No fewer than 4,000 police officers and gendarmes are mobilized. Questioned on france info this thursday, Laurent Nuñez acknowledged that the match has been identified as "sensitive and is "high risk in the international context that we know". 

17:22 – Emmanuel Macron speaks out on security measures around the match

Emmanuel Macron has accepted to respond to BFMTV journalists, a few hours before the start of the football match between France and Israel at the Stade de France. “We will not give in to anti-Semitism anywhere and violence, including in the French Republic, will never prevail and neither will intimidation,” he declared, while the security force deployed around the Saint-Denis stadium is considerable. The head of state will be in the stadium this evening to show his support for the Jews of France, while anti-Semitic violence has increased considerably in recent months.