French police have detained 780 people after violent clashes erupted in Paris and around 15 other cities on Saturday night, following Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League victory over Arsenal. Interior minister Laurent Nuñez confirmed that 57 officers were injured, most of them suffering minor injuries, as fans set fires, vandalised shops, and even attempted to storm a police station.
Most of the celebrations were peaceful, Nuñez said, with the worst incidents concentrated near the Champs-Élysées and the Parc des Princes in western Paris, where more than 40,000 fans had gathered to watch the match. Police estimated the crowd on the Champs-Élysées at 20,000, with many supporters letting off fireworks and flares.
Of the 780 detained, 480 were arrested in the Paris area alone. The Paris prosecutors’ office said 277 people had been formally placed in police custody, including 82 minors, on charges ranging from assaulting police officers to theft, vandalism, and disturbing public order. In one serious incident, a driver lost control of a car which rammed into a restaurant terrace, leaving two people wounded, one seriously.
Despite the unrest, Nuñez confirmed that the planned celebrations for the team’s victory on Sunday afternoon at the Champ de Mars, near the Eiffel Tower, would go ahead as scheduled. The PSG team was later due to be hosted by President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace.
France had deployed 22,000 police officers to maintain order in the capital. Last year, two people died and nearly 200 were injured after PSG won the Champions League for the first time by beating Inter Milan.
