A ‘red’ wave that will have to be managed: between 30,000 and 40,000 Liverpool fans without tickets are expected between now and Saturday in Paris on the occasion of the Champions League final between the English club and Real Madrid, which is a challenge for the authorities and law enforcement.
The security device challenge for the Champions League final it was already important, after the relocation of the final to the Stade de France. Initially the match was to be played in Saint Petersburg, but the Russian invasion of Ukraine led to the change of venue for the final.
That made himhe French authorities had barely three months to prepare for this event.
Everything became even more delicate with Liverpool qualifying for the final, whose fans have a reputation for being among the most passionate and numerous in Europe.
“It is clear that an English club, with the reputation that its supporters have, It’s not the same as managing a Paris Saint-Germain match,” acknowledges a police source.
– “The most sensitive point” –
A total of 60,000 fans of the ‘Reds’ are expected between now and Saturday, but only 20,000 of them would have a ticket for the final. The same quota of 20,000 was granted to Real Madrid fans.
On the Spanish side, a ‘fan zone’ has been planned near the Stade de France, in the Park of the Legion of Honor of Saint-Denis. It will be an area for fans with a ticket and it will open from Saturday in the early afternoon.
“There is really no concern with the madridistas, A few more will come than those who have tickets, but not many,” explained a source close to the government.
The main security problem focuses above all, for its huge number of fans without a ticket, in the case of the English.
“It is clearly the most sensitive point at the security level of this final”, admits a source close to the organizers. “It is quite unprecedented to manage. To say that we are worried, perhaps not, because we have done what needs to be done, but that we are extremely vigilant, yes,” she points out.
To try to channel the situation, opted for the Parisian artery of the Cours de Vincennes, between Place de Nation and Porte de Vincennes.
Almost 500 law enforcement officers of the 3,000 mobilized for the final will monitor this ‘fan zone’, dedicated to fans who want to “party”.
But will all the ‘reds’ fans go to this ‘fan zone’?
“We’re not going and we can’t force them to go there. We have been working with Liverpool for weeks for that,” explains this source.
One of the fears of the authorities is that some groups spread throughout the capital and even who have clashes with Spanish fans.
“There is a very small minority that comes to create problems, is far from being the majority. For those who want to celebrate, we offer adapted elements to do so. We want to prevent them from being in an unorganized space,” explains this source close to the authorities.
– “If I see them, I close” –
The Liverpool club will be the organizer of this ‘fan zone’, whose security depends on the French Football Federation (FFF). The police are in charge of the control outside of it.
The choice of the Cours de Vincennes It hasn’t pleased everyone.
“They asked us, but they haven’t really given us a choice,” They lament from the environment of the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo. “We were against doing it there and we are very, very afraid of what might happen,” she said.
The massive arrival Some Parisian merchants are also concerned about these fans.
“If I see them, I close the establishment directly”says the director of a famous restaurant in the city.
An important part could arrive in Paris as early as Thursday, “several thousand”, according to the source close to the organizers. “We will have to be vigilant as early as Thursday night,” the police source warned.
