Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

WORLD CUP

World Cup parade: Champs-Élysées stores and cafés board up windows over vandalism fears

Shopkeepers and restaurant owners on Paris’s emblematic Champs-Élysées Avenue boarded up their businesses ahead of the French national team’s victory parade on Monday afternoon fearing a repeat of Sunday night's violence and looting.

Published: 16 July 2018 15:27 CEST
World Cup parade: Champs-Élysées stores and cafés board up windows over vandalism fears
Photo: AFP

The Champs-Élysées prepares to host hundreds of thousands of fans again for the French national team’s victory parade on Monday afternoon. 

But some stores and restaurants were not taking any chances nor were they interested in the extra custom the crowds would bring. They decided to board up their stores and restaurants ahead of the parade over a repeat of Sunday night's looting and violence.

“The SFR shop is being cautious by installing large panels to protect its storefront.”

SFR wasn't the only store not taking any risks as others took similar measures to protect their windows fearing a repeat of the vandalism that broke out on Sunday night when rioters looted the Publicis Drugstore.

Some restaurants like the Bistrot Romain simply closed up for the day after being ransacked on Sunday night.

Some 4,000 police and security forces will be deployed across Paris once more in a bid to keep public order and prevent further disorderly behaviour.

As France awoke from a night of delirious celebrations throughout the streets of every town and city across l’Héxagone, no area was perhaps worse by hit by vandalism than the epicentre of the party itself: the Champs-Élysées.

Scenes of joy turned to violence on the famous 8th arrondissement avenue as dozens of youths looted a Publicis Drugstore and clashed with police.

They were spotted wearing ski masks as they broke in; they then left with bottles of wine and champagne, some smiling and filming themselves with cellphones. 

Other vandals threw objects at police forces who responded with tear gas.

Despite the wild but mostly peaceful celebrations by hundreds of thousands of fans who flooded into the Champs-Élysées Avenue on Saturday night, the World Cup aftermath has left shattered shop windows, a burned down kiosk, rubbish containers knocked over and many torched vehicles. 

This tweet by journalist Caroline Pique reads: “Cleaning services arrive at Avenue Marceau. “In 1998, it wasn’t this dirty,” recalls an agent who’s worked for Paris City Hall for 37 years. “The more time passes, the more the serious the damage is”.

The latest police reports suggest 102 people were arrested in central Paris, 90 of whom have been placed in police custody.

Shopkeepers and cleaning services were seen clearing the streets and storefronts of all the damage and rubbish left behind after Sunday night’s wild celebrations following France’s 4-2 win over Croatia in the World Cup final.

French police even had to disperse a crowd in front of the Champs-Élysées’s Nike shop on Monday morning as fans demanded the new French football jersey with two stars on it, one for each World Cup they have won. The store was closed and will remain so for the whole of Monday.


 

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

SPORT

Norway’s football clubs to vote on Qatar World Cup boycott

Will Norwegian football star Erling Braut Haaland stay home or play on what fans have dubbed a "cemetery?" This Sunday, a meeting of Norway's football community will decide whether to boycott next year's World Cup in Qatar.

Published: 18 June 2021 11:27 CEST
Norway's football clubs to vote on Qatar World Cup boycott
Norway's forward Erling Haaland (L) and teammates wear jerseys reading "Fair play for migrant workers" before the international friendly football match between Norway and Greece at La Rosaleda stadium in Malaga in preperation for the UEFA European Championships, on June 6, 2021. JORGE GUERRERO / AFP

Under pressure from grassroots activists the Norwegian Football Federation(NFF) has decided to hold an extraordinary congress to decide on whether to pass up football’s showpiece event all together.

The games on the pitches in the Middle Eastern emirate will “unfortunately be like playing on a cemetery,” according to Ole Kristian Sandvik, spokesman of the Norwegian Supporters Alliance (NSA), invoking a commonly used metaphor among opponents of Norway’s participation.

Norway, which has not qualified for a major international competition since Euro 2000, is currently fourth in its World Cup qualifying group behind Turkey, the Netherlands and Montenegro. 

So while qualification seems an uphill task, the result of the vote could have an impact on whether Norway and its young star Haaland — one of the rising stars of world football — continue to play qualifying matches. 

The movement calling for a boycott began north of the Arctic Circle when football club Tromso IL spoke out against turning a blind eye to alleged human rights abuses at the end of February.

“We can no longer sit and watch people die in the name of football,” the first division club proclaimed.

Qatar has faced criticism for its treatment of migrant workers, many of whom are involved in the construction of stadiums and infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup, with campaigners accusing employers of exploitation and forcing labourers to work in dangerous conditions.

Qatari authorities meanwhile insist they have done more than any country in the region to improve worker welfare.

“There is no doubt that this World Cup should never have been awarded to Qatar,” Tom Hogli, a former professional footballer turned public relations officer for Tromso IL, told AFP.

“The conditions there are abominable and many have lost their lives,” he added.

In March, a spokesman for the Qatari organisers put the number of deaths on the construction sites at “three” since 2014, with another 35 having died away from their workplaces, challenging the heavy toll reported by some rights groups.

Push from fans
The Tromso call began gathering pace in Norway, where clubs operate under a democratic structure, and under pressure from fans, many teams now say “nei” (no).

According to Sandvik, the fans feel that the deaths on the World Cup sites would have been avoided “if they had not had to build hotels, railways and stadiums”.

Nearly half of Norwegians, 49 percent, now say they are in favour of a boycott, while only 29 percent are against it, according to a poll published by newspaper VG on Wednesday.

The Nordic country’s national squad has already protested conditions in Qatar, but stopped short of calling for a boycott.

Before recent Norway games, Borussia Dortmund superstar Haaland, captain Martin Odegaard and the rest of the team have worn t-shirts with slogans like “Human rights on and off the pitch.”

Other countries, like Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark have also followed suit.

FIFA, on the other hand, argue that awarding the hosting of the World Cup in Qatar has opened the door to social progress.

“We know there is still work to be done, but we need to recognise the significant progress achieved in a very short time,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in May.

‘Few successes’ 
While the executive committee of the NFF have said they regret Qatar being awarded the World Cup, they oppose a boycott.

President Terje Svendsen said he thought it was “not the right tool to improve the human rights situation or the working conditions in Qatar,” when speaking at the federation’s ordinary annual congress in March.

According to the NFF, a boycott could end up costing Norway 205 million Norwegian kroner ($24 million, 20 million euros) in fines and compensation as well as lost revenue.

Feeling the pressure from grassroots campaigns, the NFF referred the matter to an extraordinary congress which on Sunday will bring together the eight members of its executive committee, representatives of 18 districts and of hundreds of professional and amateur clubs.

The discussions will be revolve around the findings of an expert committee which, with the exception of two members representing fans, has also come out against a boycott.

“For a boycott to succeed, you need a critical mass behind it, an opposition that calls for it in the country, the UN to put pressure on the
authorities, the business world, the trade unions and civil society to put pressure on it in the long term,” committee chairman Sven Mollekleiv said in a debate hosted by broadcaster TV2.

“Historically, there are few successes,” he said.

Rather than a boycott, the committee recommended 26 measures to consolidate and further the gains made in Qatar but also to ensure that FIFA doesn’t become complicit in so called “sportswashing” — the polishing of a country’s public image through a major sporting event.

Some initial supporters of a boycott, like Tromso’s Hogli, have since sided with these conclusions, although calls for a complete boycott remain.

SHOW COMMENTS