Less than a week after the chaotic conditions surrounding the final of the Champions League between Real Madrid and Liverpool (1-0), the Stade de France is waiting for a new test. The French national football team will face Denmark on Friday. The organization expects a sold-out house with approximately 80,000 spectators, including 1,400 Danes.
The images of Liverpool fans flocking to the stadium entrance gates and of police tear-gassing peace-loving supporters are still in the minds of many. French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin was accused of lying when he blamed the chaos on the many fake tickets in circulation. He later admitted that the organization “clearly” could have been better.
“What happened last Saturday at Stade de France was an embarrassment to our country, our region and our city, which are preparing for the Olympics and the Paralympics,” said Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.
Yet there is no panic in the organization for the upcoming match of the French for the UEFA Nations League against Denmark. A spokesman for the football association told AFP news agency that 1,270 security personnel will be on the move on Friday, less than the 1650 mobilized a week earlier. That was already decided well before the CL final.
“This is a very ordinary competition, the kind we have organized countless times over the past twenty years,” explained Mayor Mathieu Hanotin of the suburb of Saint-Dénis, where the stadium is located. “In terms of controlling the influx of people, this is a normal duel with normal security measures.”
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