FIFA WC Final: 14,000 Cops Deployed Across France Ahead Of Summit Clash Against Argentina

Around 115 people were arrested after the Morocco game in Paris, and clashes also took place last Saturday after France's quarter-final victory.

Students carry paintings of Argentina's forward Lionel Messi and France's forward Kylian Mbappé ahead of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup football final match

New Delhi: Around 14,000 police officers will be deployed across France to guarantee security during the World Cup final on Sunday, news agency AFP reported.

The security deployment will largely be made in Paris, which is expecting huge crowds in the event of victory.

Champs-Elysees avenue, where the supporters celebrated during France's previous World Cup wins in 1998 and 2018, with 600,000 people cheering and dancing there four years back, will be closed to traffic on Sunday. A total of 2,750 officers will be stationed in the vicinity.

Sub-zero temperatures and rain forecast for Sunday could throw a spanner to the celebrations, both to France or a victory for Argentina and their inspirational Paris-based playmaker Lionel Messi.   

According to the AFP report, police will be on their guard for troublemakers during the FIFA final. Around 40 far-right sympathisers were arrested on Wednesday evening as they attempted to join a crowd of revellers after France beat Morocco in the semi-final. They had come to start a fight, police said.

Notably, around 115 people were arrested after the Morocco game in Paris, and clashes also took place last Saturday after France's quarter-final victory. Police had to resort to teargas to disperse the jubilant crowd.

However, the aftermath of Wednesday's game was marred by the death of a 14-year-old boy in the southern city of Montpellier, who was hit by a car carrying the supporters.

The driver of a white hatchback involved in the accident is still absconding.

Meanwhile, a total of 12,800 police officers will also be deployed in France on Saturday for the third-place run-off game between Morocco and Croatia.

It is to be noted that a fatal accident took place in 2019 in the same poverty-hit area of the city, Paillade, when a driver lost control of his vehicle and hit a mother and her baby after an Africa Cup of Nations game.