At least 45 people were arrested Saturday as celebrations over Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League victory descended into chaos, the Paris police prefecture said. Authorities said fires were set, businesses were vandalized and crowds clashed with police across the French capital.
Police said large groups gathered near the Arc de Triomphe and along the Champs-Élysées, where thousands of people converged after the match. The Associated Press reported some fans set off flares and blared car horns as officers worked to contain the crowds.
The Paris police prefecture said a group attempted to storm a police station late Saturday and that some people vandalized shops, torched vehicles and set fires. A bakery and a restaurant were damaged, and one police officer was injured, authorities said. A crowd briefly blocked the city’s main ring road before police dispersed the gathering.
The unrest followed PSG’s dramatic victory over Arsenal in the Champions League final. French authorities noted similar violence after the club’s previous title, when 201 people were injured in Paris and more than 500 arrests were made across France, they said.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
