Paris celebrates football triumph amid riot recriminations

PARIS – The French capital laid out a red, white and blue carpet on May 31 for Paris Saint-Germain players to mark their second straight Champions League title, amid bitter recriminations after hundreds of people were arrested and police hurt in a night of unrest.

Tens of thousands of flag-waving fans took to the streets again to see the team parade from Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport to the Champ-de-Mars plaza, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.

The team flew back from Budapest where they beat English Premier League champions Arsenal 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out on May 30, after their final had finished 1-1 after extra time.

They were also received by French President Emmanuel Macron before returning to their Parc des Princes stadium for a final encounter with more than 40,000 fans, bringing to a close a day of festivities.

But the previous night of celebrations was blighted by clashes between supporters and police in Paris and other cities, with cars set on fire and shops looted.

One man died riding his motorcycle around the Paris ring road in celebration while authorities reported stabbings and other attacks. They said 57 police officers and 219 “participants” were injured. Eight of the injured were in critical condition.

“We’ve had more than 890 arrests. In total, that’s 45 per cent more than last year,” Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told broadcaster France Inter on June 1, adding that nearly 180 law enforcement officers had been injured.

The number of arrests were over a third more than when PSG’s Champions League final triumph against Inter Milan also set off a night of disturbances in 2025. 

Nunez previously said looting had taken place in around 15 cities across the country.

Municipal workers hurried on the morning of May 31 to clear the Paris streets of broken glass, wrecked bus shelters, rubbish bins and burnt-out cars and motorcycles before PSG’s return.

Macron called the violence “unspeakable”.

He said PSG were an “immense pride” for France but said the country was “fed up” with the violence. “We will be ruthless with those who have been caught,” he vowed.

Amid political recriminations over the troubles, Paris Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire played down the severity, saying such incidents were nothing new.

“In the vast majority of cases, people celebrated with family and friends. And it was an extraordinary celebration,” he told BFM TV. “And incidents on the fringes of major events have been going on for centuries.”

He blamed the “media coverage” of the unrest “and perhaps also the obsession of these troublemakers who come to cause trouble and show themselves on social media”.

The town hall for the Paris district, which includes the Champs-Elysee, where tens of thousands went after PSG’s triumph, called for a ban on such gatherings.

On the night of May 30, the “Champs-Elysees avenue and its surroundings ceased to be a place of celebration and became an arena of urban guerrilla warfare”, the town hall said in a statement.

Politicians from all sides lambasted the troubles and questioned the way it was handled.

Far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen wrote on X that “only in France does a football club’s victory spark riots”.

Valerie Pecresse, president of the regional council of the Ile-de-France region from the Republicans party, slammed “the brainless thugs who allow themselves to destroy everything, tarnishing the image of Paris and France”.

A spokesperson for the hard-left party France Unbowed said: “We cannot be satisfied with the way last night’s event was managed and organised by the government.”

Nunez promised “strong-arm” security for the May 31 celebrations and some 6,000 police were on duty across central Paris.

“We’re still riding yesterday’s high, so we want to keep the party going,” said 25-year-old Abou, a PSG fan “since he was little”.

“Paris, Paris”, chanted supporters wearing the team colours and carrying flags, as they filtered through security checkpoints to get near a stage where the players appeared, while the pop song We Are The Champions blared out on speakers.

PSG’s Brazilian captain Marquinhos and striker Ousmane Dembele were among the most applauded as they lifted the trophy before their adoring fans. “We will be back next year for the third,” said the Frenchman.

But the club’s president Nasser Al-Khelaifi appealed to the crowd: “Please celebrate calmly today. We must protect our city.”

The streets were so packed that the team arrived more than an hour late at the Champs-de-Mars, where they paraded on a Tricolour carpet to the stage.

“It was great, there was the stress of the penalty shoot-out but it was good stress in the end,” said Mirna Makima, a 39-year-old physiotherapist who travelled from Belgium for the celebrations. AFP