Nasima Khatun
French police arrested over fifty football fans over the weekend during the Arab Cup celebrations. French-Algerians took to the streets of Paris, as well as other major cities like Lyon, to celebrate their team’s victory over Tunisia. Despite the celebrations being primarily peaceful, but loud, French police responded harshly, with some people even describing the violence as “brutal.” Footage has been shared on Twitter and it also paints a ghastly image of the police force clashing with fans.
Authorities later confirmed that 32 people were detained and a whopping 432 others had been cautioned for “traffic offences” during the celebrations in the capital city.
According to Al Mayadeen, this isn’t the first time the police have reacted this way to Algerians in particular.
“On December 11th, French police fired tear gas at about 200 Algerians who were celebrating their home country’s victory over Morocco in the FIFA Arab Cup,” they confirmed.
The news comes after Algeria recently won the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup after defeating Tunisia, in a 2-0 victory on Saturday.
The first goal came thanks to thirty-one-year-old Amir Sayoud, who scored in the nineth minute of extra time and the second was by midfielder, Yacine Brahimi, which helped the team secure their win.
Sayoud has been described as an “unexpected hero” after he made his debut during the tournament at the Al-Bayt Stadium in Al Khor city. He played during the team’s first game against Sudan, but strangely enough, was kept on the bench until the 66th minute of the final against Tunisia when Madjid Bougherra brought him onto the field. And I bet he’s thanking God he did because that extraordinary left-foot shot into the top corner put Algeria out in front.
Brahimi, on the other hand, took the opportunity after a last-minute corner which was cleared by the Algerian defence. He raced to the other end of the field and scored the final goal of the tournament.
Coach Bougherra dedicated the win to the people of Palestine.
“We dedicate the Arab Cup to the Palestinian people and our people in Gaza,” he said.