Morocco beat Portugal to qualify for the semi-finals.
Clashes are underway on the Champs-Élysées with mortar fire against the security forces who must respond with tear gas, after Morocco’s 1-0 victory against Portugal in the quarter-finals in Qatar. According to videos on social media, the officers repeatedly charged. A construction site was reportedly looted, offering projectiles to some supporters. “Place de l’Etoile is congested with parked cars. Many CRS reinforcements are on site», notes our special correspondent, Luc Lenoir.
A little below the Place de l’Etoile, the situation “is very difficult for the police“. Many people are gathered there, and the police intervene regularly to disperse the crowds. “At the Dior store, around 25 avenue des Champs-Elysées, strong smells of tear gas. Many young people in sportswear“Says our journalist.
Two atmospheres were already beginning to form around 7:45 p.m., as our journalist reported: “Near the Etoile, supporters rejoice and wave flags. But on the sides, groups of young people dressed in black, with caps, and who stand silent“.
Cautious after the scenes of looting and degradation in Brussels after the Moroccan victory in early December, the police had nevertheless planned a very tight device to avoid overflows.
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1220 police and gendarmes, in civilian clothes as in uniform, have been mobilized in the capital and its inner suburbs for 4 p.m. Law enforcement will patrolin all Parisian stations and stations, especially in those usually used to reach the Champs-Élysées“warned the police headquarters. A specific device is set up on the most beautiful avenue in the world “in order to prevent any disturbance to public order likely to be generated by supporters and to fight against all phenomena of delinquency“.
Finally, the gates of La Muette, Maillot, Ternes and Dauphine are inaccessible from the ring road. The Paris police headquarters also indicates that an appropriate judicial processing system has been put in place.