Newspaper reports first riots in France following France-Morocco football match
Groups of aggressive people went on a riot on Place Massena soon after the match ended, Le Figaro said
PARIS, December 15. /TASS/. Clashes between French and Moroccan football fans sparked in Nice in southern France after the country’s national football team defeated Morocco in the World Cup semi-final in Qatar, Le Figaro reported on Wednesday night.
Groups of aggressive people went on a riot on Place Massena soon after the match ended, the French newspaper said. Youths in hooded wear attacked Moroccan fans shouting "Away with Arabs!" and "We are at home!", and insults to the French sounded in response, according to a Le Figaro reporter. The two sides to the conflict shot fireworks toward each other, and threw stones and bottles as well as garbage from on-street waste containers. The police who have arrived at the scene used tear gas to disperse the aggressive crowd.
The media also reported clashes between football fans in Montpellier and Avignon. Fans in Nantes, Toulouse and a number of other cities have been actively shooting fireworks, according to video posts on social media, with no clashes reported so far. A large crowd has gathered on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, but numerous police patrols are currently on duty there, so there is currently no unrest there, a TASS reporter said.