French minister calls huge ‘Free Palestine’ banner at Paris soccer match ‘unacceptable’
Interior minister says he isn’t ruling out sanctions over violation of French and European soccer rules; Jewish community leader says banner was ‘call to hatred’
PARIS, France — A gigantic banner proclaiming “Free Palestine” unfurled by Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) supporters at a Champions League match has no place in a soccer stadium, France’s interior minister said on Thursday.
The huge banner covered an entire section of the stadium at PSG’s home venue of Parc des Princes in Paris Wednesday night ahead of its defeat at the hands of Spanish rivals Atletico Madrid.
As well as the slogan “Free Palestine,” the banner showed a bloodstained Palestinian flag, a gesticulating man with a keffiyeh scarf covering all his face except his eyes, the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, and a young boy wrapped in the Lebanese flag. It also depicted the entire State of Israel within the pattern of a keffiyeh as the letter “i” of “Palestine.”
“This banner had no place in this stadium,” Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau wrote on X.
“I ask PSG to explain itself and the clubs to ensure that politics does not come to damage sport, which must always remain a source of unity,” he said, adding such actions were banned by both French soccer and UEFA.
Je demande au @PSG_inside de s’expliquer et aux clubs de veiller à ce que la politique ne vienne pas abîmer le sport, qui doit toujours rester un ferment d’unité. Ce tifo n’avait pas sa place dans ce stade, et de tels messages sont d’ailleurs proscrits par les règlements de la… https://t.co/XiQ61LnLO6
— Bruno Retailleau (@BrunoRetailleau) November 7, 2024
“If this were to happen again, we will have to consider forbidding banners for clubs that do not enforce the rules,” he added.
The banner was shown as Israel pressed military operations against the Hamas terror group in Gaza and the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon and international concern grows over civilian casualties.
Israel has been at war with Hamas and its allies since October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, massacring some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, 97 of whom are still held. Hezbollah begin firing rockets into Israel on October 8, and its attacks have forced the displacement from their homes of some 60,000 Israelis.
Antisemitic attacks have surged worldwide since the Hamas massacre.
In a later interview with Sud Radio, Retailleau made no attempt to hide his anger, saying the banner was “unacceptable.”
“I want to know more and now how this banner came to be unfurled. The Paris police chief (Laurent Nunez) explained what happened. We agreed on a certain number of things but I am demanding accountability,” he added.
Asked if he would seek sanctions against PSG, Retailleau said: “I am not ruling out anything. I will demand explanations from PSG.”
‘Scandalous’
The banner, which was unfurled by the Paris Ultras Collective (CUP) hardcore fan group, was shown above another slogan that read: “War on the pitch but peace in the world.”
“The club was not aware of the plan to display such a message,” PSG said in a statement Wednesday evening.
“PSG emphasizes the Parc des Princes is — and must remain — a place of communion around a shared passion for football and firmly opposes any message of a political nature in the stadium.”
The president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France, Yonathan Arfi, described the banner as “scandalous,” saying it depicted “a masked Palestinian fighter” and noting it also showed “a map where the State of Israel no longer exists” in an image of the Palestinian keffiyeh.
“This is not a message of peace but a call to hatred,” he said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
