There will likely not be a huge fan zone in Paris for the Champions League final between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal FC, scheduled for May 30 in Budapest. Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire confirmed on Monday that he was abandoning his initial plan to set up a free viewing area in the capital.
“I have obviously heard the reservations of the police prefecture, I know that they are also those of the Minister of the Interior,” he told the press.
A concentration of events deemed unmanageable
The socialist mayor explained this decision by the exceptional accumulation of events scheduled for the same weekend in Paris and the surrounding suburbs. In total, around 200,000 people could potentially be affected by these events. “Reason requires me to listen to them,” he acknowledged.
The mayor detailed a series of major events already planned for May 30:
– Aya Nakamura at the Stade de France – Damso at Paris La Défense Arena – Bouss at the Accor Arena – The Roland-Garros tournament – A match of Stade Français at the Jean-Bouin stadium – Opening of the Parc des Princes to watch the PSG-Arsenal match
“For me, what matters most is the safety of Parisians and spectators,” insisted Emmanuel Grégoire.
The prefecture against the fan-zone project for the Champions League final
The Paris Police Prefecture had already shown itself unfavorable to the establishment of a fan zone in the capital. A few days earlier, Minister of the Interior Laurent Nuñez had also expressed reservations about this project, mentioning the need to coordinate in advance the organization of such a security system.
After incidents during previous PSG celebrations, authorities fear an overload of security forces in an already extremely busy weekend.
