05/31/26 11:24:00
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05/31 11:23 CDT French capital hosts Paris Saint-Germain parade after clashes
marred Champions League win
French capital hosts Paris Saint-Germain parade after clashes marred Champions
League win
By SYLVIE CORBET and SAMUEL PETREQUIN
Associated Press
PARIS (AP) --- A huge crowd of supporters gathered peacefully near the Eiffel
Tower on Sunday to celebrate Paris Saint-Germain's Champions League title
victory which was marred by violent clashes overnight across France that led
police to detain hundreds of people.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuez said 780 people were detained in Paris and
other cities and 57 officers were wounded, with most suffering minor injuries,
as football fans set off fires and vandalized shops overnight.
Nuez said at a news conference Sunday that "the situation has been largely
brought under control."
"Most of the celebrations took place peacefully" across the French capital, he
said, noting most incidents happened in the Champs Elysees neighborhood and
close to the Parc des Princes stadium, in western Paris, where fans had
gathered to watch the match.
Nuez said that planned celebrations for the team's win on Sunday afternoon at
the Champ de Mars would go ahead as scheduled. He warned that police would
respond with "firmness and determination" to any potential violence.
Up to 100,000 supporters were expected at the event that has been placed under
high security measures.
PSG players will parade with the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop to present the
Champions League trophy to the fans. The team will later be hosted by French
President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee presidential palace.
Nuez said incidents took place in about 15 cities in France, describing "one
to two" shops vandalized in each other than Paris. He said 780 people were
detained in all, with 480 of them in the Paris area alone.
Police also intervened five times overnight to prevent people from blocking
traffic on the main ring road around Paris, he said.
One serious accident involved a driver losing control of a car that rammed into
a restaurant's terrace, leaving two people wounded including one seriously,
Nuez said.
The Paris prosecutors' office said 277 people have been formally placed in
police custody, including 82 minors, for alleged offences. Most were for
assault of police officers while other allegations include theft, vandalism and
disturbing the public order.
Fans began celebrating in Paris after the final whistle on Saturday night in
Budapest, Hungary, where Paris Saint-Germain was crowned Champions League
winners after beating Arsenal in a dramatic penalty shootout.
Fans marched along the avenues near Paris' Arc de Triomphe monument, with some
setting off flares and blaring car horns. Around 20,000 people gathered on the
Champs-Elysees, where police worked to contain the crowd.
The Paris police prefecture said smaller groups caused disturbances in various
locations, with some vandalizing shops and setting fires to garbage and
self-service bicycles in the streets. Cars were also set ablaze. Some who
attempted to storm a police station in the posh 8th Arrondissement neighborhood
were dispersed, police said.
"The vast majority of Parisians celebrated it with joy, unity, and respect,"
Paris mayor Emmanuel Grgoire said Sunday in a message on X while condemning
violence "in the strongest possible terms."
In May last year following PSG's first title, 201 people were injured in the
French capital and police made more than 500 arrests across France.
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