More than 50 people were arrested in Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam in various incidents during the celebration of Morocco’s historic qualification for the semi-finals of a World Cup by beating Portugal.
Morocco’s 1-0 victory in the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Qatar was celebrated by about 20,000 people on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, where several incidents took place that resulted in the arrest of 42 people, according to the latest police tally. .
The security forces mobilized a strong force, with 1,220 officers for the area, ahead of the two quarter-finals, in which France beat England 2-1.
The first festivities caused some disturbances, such as the fire of two motorcycles in the streets next to the Champs-Élysées, one of the main streets of the French capital.
Also on Saturday, Belgian police arrested a dozen people in the capital Brussels, following disturbances that broke out after Morocco’s victory over Portugal.
Several dozen hooded youths threw projectiles at police officers, who responded with tear gas, police spokeswoman Ilse Van de Keere told Le Soir, who confirmed, however, that “there was no significant damage”.
Despite the initial festive atmosphere in the streets of the Belgian capital, with hundreds of supporters from Morocco, the police presence was strong in the city center to prevent incidents, with some metro entrances closed and bus lines diverted as a preventative measure.
Following the disturbances recorded this week, following Morocco’s victory over Belgium, some residents promoted an initiative through social networks to create a human chain and to keep supporters with violent behavior away from police units and prevent them from they destroy urban furniture, according to the television audience RTBF.
One of the organizers of the human chain told the channel that he did not want the Moroccan community in Brussels to be associated with “the violence of a small minority”.
In the country’s main cities, supporters also took to the streets to celebrate Morocco’s victory amid some “tension” and a strong police presence.
There were disturbances in several places in Amsterdam, according to the police, who issued an emergency order to evacuate several streets around 8 p.m. (7 p.m. in Lisbon) and eventually fired a water cannon and made several arrests, yanked the US on public television.
In Rotterdam, access to the center was closed due to overcrowding, according to the channel, which reported the launch of pyrotechnic devices, but without disturbances.
In The Hague, supporters threw fireworks at the police, who ordered the evacuation of several streets.
Morocco is the first African team to reach the semi-finals of a men’s World Cup, where it will meet France, the current national champion.
Source: DN
