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French police detained more than 400 people involved in violent clashes in Paris and other French cities that erupted on Saturday night after Paris Saint-Germain defeated Arsenal to win the Champions League title.
Seven officers were injured as football fans set off fires and vandalised shops, the interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, said, describing the violence as “absolutely unacceptable”. One small group even tried to storm a Paris police station.
Nuñez said rioting took place in about 15 cities in France, and that nearly 400 people were detained in all, with nearly 300 of them in Paris alone.
But he said planned celebrations for the team’s win on Sunday afternoon at the Champ de Mars, near the Eiffel Tower, would go ahead as scheduled. The PSG team will then be hosted by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, at the Élysée presidential palace.
Footage aired on the news channel BFM showed brief skirmishes around PSG’s Parc des Princes stadium in western Paris, where more than 40,000 people watched the club win its second consecutive title on penalties at the Puskas Arena in Budapest on giant screens.
By 11pm (9pm UK time), police had made more than 130 arrests, Paris police said. A police spokesperson told Reuters that six vehicles and two storefronts had been damaged.
Some PSG fans aimed fireworks at police officers who responded with teargas during the celebrations, according to reports in France, while some were seen wearing T-shirts emblazoned with “FU*K ARSENAL 2026” as they stood next to burning Lime bikes on the city’s streets.
Smoke rose from several areas during the clashes. Police were seen sprinting after groups of fans with riot gear and stamping out flares discarded on the road.
France had deployed 22,000 police to uphold order in the capital. Last year, two people died and close to 200 were injured after PSG won the Champions League for the first time by beating Inter Milan.
The Champs-Élysées boulevard, which authorities had partly cordoned off, was filling with mostly peaceful PSG fans, TV footage showed. Police estimated the crowd size at 20,000. Some supporters let off fireworks and lit flares.
The Paris police prefecture said smaller groups caused disturbances in various locations, with some vandalising shops and setting fires. Cars were also set ablaze. Those who attempted to storm a police station in the upmarket 8th arrondissement neighbourhood were dispersed, police said.
Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report
