Hundreds Arrested After Clashes During PSG Champions League Celebrations

Celebrations over Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League victory over Arsenal spilled into violence across France, where authorities said 780 people were arrested after clashes broke out in several cities.

Officials deployed about 22,000 police officers nationwide for the match, including 8,000 in Paris, after disorder also shadowed PSG’s triumph in the competition last year. In the capital, tram services were suspended, several metro stations were closed and some bus routes were halted as officials tried to contain the fallout.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, pointing to a rise in fireworks being aimed at officers, told a press briefing that 57 members of the security forces were injured. He added that there had been “219 participants injured in France, including eight seriously”.

Mr Nunez said the 780 arrests marked a 32% increase on the celebrations that followed PSG’s Champions League win last year.

Fireworks light the sky as tensions flare between police and PSG supporters in Paris

Authorities said six vehicles and two businesses were damaged.

On the Paris ring road, the peripherique, a group of supporters briefly brought traffic to a standstill after surging onto the roadway and setting off flares, according to an AFP photographer.

As supporters marked the dramatic penalty shootout victory in Budapest, the Hungarian capital, police said around 20,000 people gathered along Paris’s Champs-Elysees.

Watch: Fires, tear gas in Paris as PSG win second Champions League title

Businesses had boarded up windows before kickoff, wary of a repeat of last year’s unrest, when youths looted shops on the Champs-Elysees and nearby streets.

Hundreds of people were taken into custody.

Police said they seized two dozen flares and about 100 fireworks on Saturday, while a bus shelter near the Champs-Elysees was destroyed.

Fans ignite flares while police keep watch in Paris

The match unfolded during an already packed night in the French capital, with singer Aya Nakamura performing at the Stade de France, rapper Damso appearing at La Defense Arena and the French Open under way.

Near PSG’s Parc des Princes stadium, police said a bakery and a restaurant were damaged. Tens of thousands of fans had gathered inside the ground to watch the match, while another 4,000 to 5,000 people remained outside and threw projectiles at officers.

About 150 people “attempted to enter through one of the gates” at the stadium but police pushed them back, a police spokesperson said.

Others tried to build a barricade using rental bicycles, but police moved in and cleared it.

Police fire tear gas during clashes with fans in Paris

An AFP reporter at the scene said fighting erupted between officers and supporters near the stadium, with police deploying tear gas after fireworks were hurled in their direction.

The disorder drew a sharp response from the French far right, with three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen writing on social media that “only in France does a football club’s victory spark riots.”

“Only in France does everyone feel compelled to lock themselves in their homes on the evening of a victory to avoid being confronted with violence,” she added.

Mr Nunez said there was a “very robust, very solid system in place” to curb violence.

“Our responsibility is to guarantee everyone a festive celebration that is calm and fully secure,” a police spokesperson said.

The players are due to take part in a parade this afternoon on the Champs-de-Mars in front of the Eiffel Tower, where about 100,000 people are expected, before being received by President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace.