2 Die, 100 Arrested In France After PSG Champions League Victory Fracas

Two people have died and hundreds have been arrested across France after Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) fans celebrated the club’s victory in the Champions League final, according to the French interior ministry.

In the south-west town of Dax, a 17-year-old boy died after being stabbed in the chest late on Saturday evening, local media reported.

BBC Sport reports that a 23-year-old man who was riding a scooter in central Paris was also killed after being hit by a vehicle, the prosecutor’s office said.

Flares and fireworks were set off, bus shelters smashed and cars torched amid wild celebrations as PSG won the biggest prize in European club football for the first time in their history.

Paris police prefect Laurent Nuñez said PSG’s Champions League trophy parade will go ahead on Sunday evening – but there will be an increased police and military presence on the ground.

Nuñez spoke after the French interior ministry said 192 people were injured in the overnight clashes and 559 people arrested, including 491 in Paris.

Twenty-two police officers and seven firefighters were injured, the ministry said, adding that 264 vehicles were set on fire.

Nuñez said: “The toll is lower than what we have seen in the past, but we will never get used to this kind of abuse, with people who only came to commit acts of vandalism and who did not even watch the match, and we will always have a very firm response.”

“This is just half time for us because the PSG players are coming to Paris,” he said, with a celebration expected around the Parc des Princes where players will meet fans.

“There again we are expecting some clashes, some scuffles and we will be there and we will be very strong in our response against the vandals, against the thieves who have a go at the police officers.

“We will not tolerate any abuse today and the fans who want to enjoy the parade, can do so safely.”

He added that “PSG supporters shouldn’t be mixed up with gangs of looters and vandals”.

Separately, the Paris Prosecutor’s Office told the BBC “several shops were looted” in the Place des Ternes area. About 30 people were arrested and taken into custody near a Foot Locker on the Champs-Elysées that was robbed, the office said.

Elsewhere across France, Dax mayor Julien Dubois, reacting to the fatal stabbing, said his “thoughts are with the young victim, his family and friends”.

“We are floored by all the drama tonight,” he wrote on social media. “It is advisable to quickly shed light on these facts in order to severely punish the perpetrator.”