PARIS, July 12, 2025 (AFP) - Paris will be under tight police surveillance 
Sunday and Monday for a key football match for local champions PSG, and 
France's national holiday, with both events potentially creating public 
disturbances, police said.

Some 11,500 officers will be deployed in the French capital and surrounding 
areas for the FIFA Club World Cup final between English side Chelsea and 
French champions Paris Saint-Germain, which coincides with festivities on the 
eve of France's national holiday on Monday, known as Bastille Day, that can 
degenerate into violence.

No crowd gatherings will be allowed on the Champs-Elysees, the prestigious 
Paris thoroughfare that has often been the scene of violence on such 
occasions.

Although the Club World Cup final is played in the United States, PSG fans 
will be out in numbers in the streets of Paris.

When the club won the Champions League final on May 31, several violent 
incidents in France led to around 200 arrests and 20 police injuries.

On the Champs-Elysees that night, store windows were smashed and shops 
looted.

"For now we are not aware of any risks, but we nevertheless always prepare 
for public disturbances," Paris police chief Laurent Nunez told the BFMTV 
broadcaster on Saturday.

The police deployment in Paris and suburbs would be "very dense", he said.

"We will act with great firmness," Nunez warned, adding he had given the 
order for any gathering on the Champs-Elysees Sunday evening to be dispersed.

No fan zones or pavement TV screens would be allowed between Sunday evening 
and the small hours of Monday.

The avenue will on Monday be the scene of the traditional July 14 military 
parade, for which police will put in place points for body and bag checks for 
guests.

The event is followed Monday evening by a classical concert near the Eiffel 
Tower, and traditional Bastille Day fireworks lasting 20 minutes, for which a 
crowd of 60,000 is expected.