Some 22,000 police officers will be deployed across France for the Champions League final between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal this weekend, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Wednesday.
Violence erupted after PSG’s 5-0 victory last year against Inter Milan in European football’s showpiece competition, particularly on the Champs-Elysees and around the club’s Parc des Princes stadium, where the match was shown live.
Nunez told online news site Brut that of the 22,000 officers on duty for Saturday’s match, 8,000 would be in the French capital.
Last year also saw a huge policing operation, with 5,400 officers mobilised in the Paris metropolitan area. There were 563 arrests in France on the night, including 491 in Paris.
Another 79 people were arrested the following evening.
PSG, who won their fifth straight French league title earlier this month, take on newly crowned English Premiership champions Arsenal at the Puskás Arena. The match kicks off at 6pm, and will be broadcast in France by pay-TV broadcaster Canal Plus — and also free to air on M6.
Following last year’s violence, Paris will not host a Fan Zone this year, but – as in 2025, the match will be broadcast on giant screens at Parc des Princes in front of an expected crowd of around 48,000.
Further afield, several thousand fans are expected to attend a free Fan Zone, which will be open from 3.30pm on Saturday at stade Georges-Lefèvre, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Yvelines – birthplace of the French club.
Fan Zones and events have been organised in towns across Ile-de-France for the day of the match, including a theatre in Île-Saint-Denis.
On Friday night, the Eiffel Tower will glow red and blue, the colours of PSG, while a selection of supporters’ messages of encouragement are being displayed on digital displays across the city in the lead-up to the match.
