Paris police to deploy en masse for Bastille Day, PSG game

Paris will be under tight police surveillance Sunday and Monday for a key football match for local champions PSG, and France’s national holiday, with both events potentially creating public disturbances, police said.

Some 11,500 officers will be deployed in the French capital and surrounding areas for the FIFA Club World Cup final between English side Chelsea and French champions Paris Saint-Germain, which coincides with festivities on the eve of France’s national holiday on Monday, known as Bastille Day, that can degenerate into violence.

No crowd gatherings will be allowed on the Champs-Elysees, the prestigious Paris thoroughfare that has often been the scene of violence on such occasions.

Although the Club World Cup final is played in the United States, PSG fans will be out in numbers in the streets of Paris.

When the club won the Champions League final on May 31, several violent incidents in France led to around 200 arrests and 20 police injuries.

On the Champs-Elysees that night, store windows were smashed and shops looted.

“For now we are not aware of any risks, but we nevertheless always prepare for public disturbances,” Paris police chief Laurent Nunez told the BFMTV broadcaster on Saturday. 

The police deployment in Paris and suburbs would be “very dense”, he said.

“We will act with great firmness,” Nunez warned, adding he had given the order for any gathering on the Champs-Elysees Sunday evening to be dispersed.

No fan zones or pavement TV screens would be allowed between Sunday evening and the small hours of Monday. 

The avenue will on Monday be the scene of the traditional July 14 military parade, for which police will put in place points for body and bag checks for guests.

The event is followed Monday evening by a classical concert near the Eiffel Tower, and traditional Bastille Day fireworks lasting 20 minutes, for which a crowd of 60,000 is expected.