Paris Bolsters Security for World Cup Semi-Final Between France and Morocco

The Paris police prefecture is expected to mobilize up to 2,000 police officers and gendarmes around the Champs-Élysées, the usual gathering place for supporters of the French national team, on Wednesday, December 14 for the Morocco-France match, reports Le Parisien. The implementation of this security system aims to avoid any risk of disturbance in the capital as much as possible. On Saturday, 1,220 police officers and gendarmes were mobilized on the Champs-Élysées avenue from 4 pm in Paris before the matches between Morocco and Portugal, France and England in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

At the end of the two matches, "hostile groups tried to confront the security forces who systematically dispersed them," the police prefecture said. The security forces arrested about 100 people after fireworks and projectile throwing, as well as the degradation of shop windows. The public prosecutor’s office said that more than 80 people, including 23 minors, were taken into custody in Paris.