French police arrest over 400 soccer fans in clashes following Champions League win
PARIS, France (AFP) — Police on Saturday detained more than 280 people in Paris after violent clashes erupted when thousands poured onto the streets during Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League final victory.
Some 22,000 police were deployed across France for the game, including 8,000 in Paris, after unrest marred PSG’s win in the competition last year. Paris tram lines were halted, several metro stations shut and bus traffic stopped in places in a bid to minimize disturbances.
According to the French interior ministry, 416 people were detained nationwide, including 283 who were apprehended in Paris. It was not immediately clear how many of these individuals were remanded in custody to face further investigation.
Interior minister Laurent Nunez said seven officers had been wounded and called the unrest “absolutely unacceptable.”
Six vehicles and two businesses were damaged.
A group of supporters also stormed the Paris ring road, the peripherique, bringing traffic to a halt for a time and letting off flares, an AFP photographer said.
As fans celebrated the dramatic penalty shoot-out victory in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, some 20,000 people converged on Paris’s iconic Champs-Élysées avenue, police said.
Shops boarded up their windows ahead of the match to avoid a........
