Police operation in Paris seeks to prevent riots during the World Cup game between France and Morocco

Some 2,000 French agentsbetween policemen and gendarmes, will be this Wednesday mobilized in Paris to prevent riots at the end of the semifinal of the world cup between France and Morocco, especially in the emblematic avenue of the Champs Elysées in Paris.

This security contingent practically doubles the number deployed on the same Champs-Élysées on Saturday, when both Morocco, which beat Portugal, and France, which defeated England, qualified for the World Cup semifinals.

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Some 20,000 people attended that celebration. There were 100 arrests and some acts of vandalism.

The debate on possible riots this Wednesday reached the French National Assemblywhere the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, responded to a question from a deputy from the far-right National Rally (RN).

“There were three shop windows and three vandalized motorcycles, that’s all,” said Darmanin, who clarified that among those arrested on Saturday there were many French nationals, implying that the ultra-right wanted to exaggerate the violent acts of the Moroccans.

The minister encouraged the two fans to celebrate tomorrow’s match in harmony.

However, the far-right deputy Laurence Robert-Dehault accused the government of Emmanuel Macron of laxity and recalled that the France’s international image is still badly damaged for the fiasco of security around the final of the Champions League last May.

The French security forces will also be attentive to what happens in other French cities with important Moroccan presence such as Marseille (south) and Lille (north), where 13 policemen were injured last Saturday and there were eight detainees among those who took to the streets to celebrate the victory of the Maghreb team.

Jeanne d’Hauteserre, mayor of the VIII district of the capital where the Champs Elysees are, asked the authorities to close access to the iconic Parisian avenue tomorrow night to avoid incidents.

The historic meeting tomorrow, which confronts two nations with complex relations (France as a former metropolis and Morocco as a former protectorate), has had so much expectation that some municipalities finally decided to install giant screens, such as Saint-Nazaire (socialist), Dijon (socialist) and Châteauroux (conservative).

Saint-Nazaire’s decision has sown controversy, because it was interpreted as a rectification of the boycott of Qatar, criticized internationally for violating the rights of workers, women and the LGTBI community.

The League of Human Rights (LDH) censured in a statement the attitude of the socialist mayor of Saint-Nazaire, David Samzun, calling it “regrettable and incomprehensible.” (D)