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Algeria clash with Senegal in Africa Cup of Nations final Friday night with a lot of enthusiasm in France which houses a huge population of Algerian origin because of the country's colonial history.
Thousands of people were partying on the streets when Algeria won its quarter-final on July 11, then again for the semifinal on July 14, but the celebrations were then tainted by looting and street clashes.
"I call people who celebrate, even though I understand their joy, to behaveParis police chief Didier Lallement said at a press conference Wednesday.
Around 2,500 police officers will be mobilized around the Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe where crowds set off fireworks and waved flags at the windows of cars last Sunday, France's national holiday day.
Clashes with the police in the early morning, after the looting of the previous week, saw more than 200 people arrested, leading to the condemnation of the police and the government, as well as politicians of the far right. The fact that the semi-final coincided with the day of the Bastille, which celebrates the French Republic and its armed forces, the irritated nationalist politicians in particular who worry about the effects of immigration.
"Like many French people, I was shocked to see french people Take off the French flag and climb the Algerian flag, "said Friday morning Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, right-wing politician.
Dupont-Aignan told French fans of Algerian origin, many of whom have dual nationality, could "go back" to North Africa if their preference went to Algeria.
"I want to ask these young people, who are a minority I hope: France has welcomed you, fed, educated, is busy with you, but if you prefer Algeria, if it is better than France, return to Algeria!"
Violence erupted in France in the past after the big football matches involving Algeria including at the 2014 World Cup matches, which led the leader of the far right Marine Le Pen proposes to strip the rioters of their French nationality.
"Their victories are our nightmare," said Sebastien Chenu, party spokesman for the national Le Pen rally. "Whenever there is a match with Algeria … there are problems. "
A friendly match between France and Algeria in 2001 in Paris saw the French national anthem copiously booed in what was the first field meeting between countries since the independence of Algeria in 1962 after 130 years of French rule. The national rally called on Algerian fans to be excluded from the Champs-Élysées Friday, a request rejected as unfeasible and unfair by the Paris police.
"For me, the people who arrive at the Champs-Élysées are happy citizens", said the police chief, Lallement, at the press conference.
Volunteers help the police
Others pointed out that the vast majority of fans Peacefully scored the last two wins of Algeria in Africa Cup and that many Franco-Algerians feel free to celebrate the successes of both countries.
"We are saddened by the events of July 14"Faiza Menai of Standing Algeria, a collective that brings together members of the Algerian diaspora in France," said Thursday at AFP.
She recalled that France had seen six months of violent demonstrations during the so-called "yellow vest" demonstrations against the government, supported by Le Pen and other far-right groups. Violence in football was caused not only by Algerians, she said, and is the result of an angry minority whose lives are frustrated in the neglected, low-income suburbs that encircle French cities.
"Too bad there are people that come up just to cause problems. As in the case of yellow vests, you have these young guys who missed the point – they come from the suburbs and take advantage of the situation to take their revenge, "she said.
His group plans to send volunteers in fluorescent orange vest to the Champs-Elysees for "try to limit the damage by raising awareness and badisting the authorities. "Azouz Begag, novelist and former minister of the French government in 2005-2007, called his French-Algerian compatriots to" rule again after the match against Senegal that they are at home in France, that they pay taxes and are voters.
"The public spaces of the republic are theirs", he writes in Le Monde.
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