Paris’ chief of police Laurent Nunez stated that there was ‘sufficient’ policing in place prior to the riots that resulted in 491 arrests and disorder in the streets following Paris Saint-Germain’s historic Champions League victory.
Luis Enrique’s team secured their first major European title with a 5-0 victory against Inter Milan in Munich on Saturday night, with Achraf Hakimi, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Senny Mayulu, and Desire Doue all scoring at the Allianz Arena.
With most residents of the French capital supporting the Rouge-et-Bleu rather than their much smaller rivals, Paris FC, the city quickly erupted into lively celebrations.
But while most of the PSG fans kept their festivities within the boundaries of the law, a small minority sparked a night of mayhem and destruction as supporters took to the streets.
Rioting broke out throughout Paris and beyond, with two people tragically killed in events connected with the celebrations.
Firefighters in the capital were forced to extinguish street fires which took in cars, with a number of businesses broken into and looted.
In one shocking video, two women were seen being set upon in their car by a crowd of supporters, with their windscreen later smashed and a window kicked through by one man to reveal their terrified expressions.
After PSG’s victory parade on Sunday afternoon, there was further trouble on the famous Champs-Elysees avenue, with riot police using flash ball guns and tear gas on the celebrants.
But despite the chaos, Nunez insisted that the number of police officers deployed ahead of the weekend’s events had been ample, with the small minority which misbehaved intent on doing so regardless of circumstances.
‘5,400 police officers on Saturday, of course, that was enough,’ Nunez said on Monday, via Le Parisien. ‘We prevented a lot of damage, there were 491 arrests and 79 more on Sunday. That’s an unprecedented number of arrests.’
Nunez denounced the rioters, continuing: ‘What we deplore is that there are people who are actually making fun of the cause, the celebration, and the PSG match, since they weren’t even watching it.
‘They simply came to the Parc des Princes and the Champs-Elysees to commit atrocities, loot, and attack the police.’
Nunez added that he wasn’t looking to ‘glorify’ the incidents on Saturday evening, and that he ‘wasn’t satisfied’ with how the evening had ended, but he was adamant that ‘we can’t talk about a security breach.’
‘It’s a societal problem and all stakeholders must address it. To say it’s a failure ignores the fact that we arrested a huge number of people and that it will have a deterrent effect in the future. The government’s response is firm.’
The chief of police also shed light on an intervention he viewed as a success which saw police break up disruption on the main ring road around the city on Sunday.
According to the outlet, some 50 people set up barricades on the road using barriers and rentable bikes.
Footage taken of an incident on the ring road on Saturday evening appeared to show people running from riot police who arrived at the scene on motorbikes.
Fireworks were being set off in an attempt to move the police on, and a number of e-bikes were flung onto the road from nearby bridges.
Police were filmed eventually moving the rioters on, but not after some rough-handling of two men.
Further instances of disturbance on Sunday evening saw a vehicle set on fire near the stadium, as well as a number of clashes between small groups and the police.
The night before, major roads close to Parc des Princes, the PSG home ground were invaded by fans, bringing traffic to a halt, with riot police attempting to restore order using tear gas and baton charges.
Cars were set on fire around the Porte de Saint-Cloud – a major traffic intersection – where fireworks were fired at police.
Huge crowds gathered in all the city’s major squares, including République, Bastille, and Nation, where videos posted on X showed some of the worst violence.
At Bastille, a 23-year-old woman was seriously injured after falling onto barriers from the famous column commemorating the Storming of the Bastille in 1789.
Video footage also showed crowds standing around burning cars, until they were told loudly to ‘move’ as firefighters sought to contain the blazing vehicles.
A ring of steel had been created around the Champs-Élysées, with major department stores and banks using steel shutters to try and keep looters away.
PSG’s official club shops on the Champs, and at their ground, were also barricaded over the weekend.
Despite this, a Foot Locker sports store on Champs-Élysées was broken into, and goods including multiple trainers stolen.
A Maisons du Monde furniture store on the nearby Avenue Wagram was also looted, said a police spokesman.
‘The crowds are going wild,’ said an eye-witness, who asked to be referred to as Jacques, 18.
‘Many people are just enjoying the win, on a historic night for PSG, while others just want to be violent, and to vandalise or steal stuff – it is shameful.’
Youths wearing masks and hoodies were seen roaming around the city looking for trouble.
Motorbikes and discarded mattresses were set alight, sending thick black smoke billowing through the night sky.
There was even fighting reported around the Eiffel Tower, which was lit up in PSG’s red, white and blue following their 5-0 win.
At nearby Roland-Garros, the French Open was touched by the chaos, with fireworks and crowd noise providing a soundtrack to night matches including the all-British clash between Jacob Fearnley and Cam Norrie, and Novak Djokovic’s defeat of Filip Misolic.
Djokovic revealed on Sunday that there had been some discussion after the end of the match about whether the players were safe to return to their hotels.
‘At one point they were discussing whether we should stay at the rooms and hotels around Roland Garros, because where we are staying is quite close to the Arc de Triomphe,’ Djokovic said.
‘It was quite a scene yesterday, there was a lot of trouble on the streets. We barely made it to the hotel around 1am to be honest.
‘It was quite an adventure I must say. In the end we were good. It is a big thing for Paris.’
