France arrests hundreds of rioters nationwide as PSG win Champions League
PSG fans go wild after Champions League win Police in France have detained more than 280 people in Paris after violent clashes erupted when thousands poured onto the streets after Paris Saint-Germain’s victory in the Champions League final . About 22,000 police were deployed ac
Police in France have detained more than 280 people in Paris after violent clashes erupted when thousands poured onto the streets after Paris Saint-Germain’s victory in the Champions League final .
About 22,000 police were deployed across France for the game on Saturday, 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 halted in places in a bid to minimise disturbances.
According to the French Ministry of the Interior, 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 were wounded and called the unrest “absolutely unacceptable”.
A group of supporters also stormed the Paris ring road, the Boulevard Peripherique, bringing traffic to a halt for a time and setting off flares.
As fans celebrated the dramatic penalty shootout victory in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, about 20,000 people converged on Paris’s Champs-Elysees avenue, police said.
Shops boarded up their windows before the match to avoid a repeat of disturbances last year when youths ransacked shops on the Champs-Elysees and other streets. Hundreds of people were arrested.
Two dozen flares and about 100 fireworks were seized on Saturday while a bus shelter was destroyed near the Champs-Elysees.
