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France-Israel football match to go ahead in Paris next week: France

A Nations League football match between France and Israel will go ahead as planned in Paris next week despite the clashes that erupted in Amsterdam following a game between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax, the French interior minister said on Friday.

The game at the Stade de France on Thursday has been identified as a potential flashpoint but Bruno Retailleau said France would not “back down”.

“Some are calling for the France-Israel match to be relocated. I do not accept this,” Retailleau wrote on X. 

“France is not backing down because that would amount to giving up in the face of threats of violence and anti-Semitism,” he added.

Retailleau said he had asked Paris police chief Laurent Nunez to take the necessary security measures for the match.

A lawmaker from Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) party, Julien Odoul, on Thursday suggested moving the match to the island of Corsica.

Violence flared in Amsterdam after a Europa League match on Thursday between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Israeli, Dutch and European leaders on Friday condemned “anti-Semitic” clashes and Israel sent rescue planes for its citizens.

The mayor of Amsterdam Femke Halsema said the violence represented an “explosion” of anti-Semitism that has “not been seen in a long time”, describing “hit and run” attacks on Maccabi supporters by “hooligans on scooters”.

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