President Emmanuel Macron is to attend the French Football Cup final on Saturday evening in Saint-Denis.
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| Stande de France preparing for Coupe de France final |
According to a police source, the Paris police headquarters has banned a union rally planned near the Stade de France in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis) on Saturday evening for the final of the Coupe de France football tournament, which will be attended by President Emmanuel Macron.
According to the same police source, the ban is in place for several reasons, including non-compliance with deadlines for declaring a gathering (three full days), the possibility of disrupting a sporting event by announcing the distribution of whistles on social media (whistle distribution is prohibited in sports arenas so as not to disturb the refereeing), and the desire to avoid any politicisation of a sporting event.
Later that evening, the prefect of police of Paris stated in a news release that the trophy will be delivered in the stands due to the possibility of invasion of the pitch. "Contrary to what has been relayed by certain media, it was the prefect of police who imposed on the FFF (French Football Federation) that the trophy be awarded in the stands for security reasons, particularly in light of the invasion of the pitch and the incidents that ensued at the end of the semi-final match between FC Nantes and Olympique Lyonnais," says a press release issued by the police headquarters.
“It is in the same spirit and for the same reasons that he asked the FFF that the match be held with the gates raised in the turns, is it indicated.
"We are not organising a demonstration, we are only doing towing," CGT departmental secretary Kamel Brahmi told AFP of the decision to distribute red cards and whistles to fans on Saturday evening. at the metro and RER stations.
The Seine-Saint-Denis inter-union agreed on this action to protest the controversial pension reform law's passage and to show unhappiness with the head of state. The trade unionist told AFP that the inter-union will submit an appeal with the administrative court as soon as the Paris police headquarters' banning decision was announced.
Emmanuel Macron has scheduled to attend the final of the French Football Cup, which will pit Nantes against Toulouse on Saturday evening, as is traditional. However, a source close to the situation says he will not appear on the lawn to greet the players before the meeting begins. 3,000 police and gendarmes will be stationed around the Stade de France.
Source: LePoint