Security tight for Paris match
Troubled Paris St Germain will be under tight scrutiny when they host Panathinaikos in the UEFA Cup tonight in their first home match since one of their fans was killed by a policeman. Exceptional security measures will be implemented around the Parc des Princes Stadium and a UEFA delegate has been liaising with local police for days. «It’s not normally something we do for UEFA Cup matches but this match is special because of what happened a few weeks ago,» said UEFA spokesman William Gaillard. A policeman shot dead 25-year-old Julien Quemener and injured another fan while under attack from supporters after PSG’s last home UEFA Cup match, a 4-2 defeat by Hapoel Tel Aviv on November 23. Witnesses said the policeman opened fire on a mob of PSG fans who were chasing a Jewish supporter from Israeli team Hapoel outside the Parc des Princes. Exact figures about the security personnel for tonight’s game were to be released late last night, said a spokesman for the Paris police. «We have no particular reason to be worried because there are no problems between French and Greek fans,» Gaillard said. «We hope the tragedy will have calmed things down and helped some people realize what their behavior can lead to.» The fan’s death triggered a nationwide debate about how to free soccer from violence and racism in France. PSG have not played a home game since. They should have hosted Toulouse in Ligue 1 but that match has been postponed for security reasons. No new date has yet been set. PSG, experiencing their worst start to a season and lying a miserable 15th in Ligue 1, must win to qualify for the last 32. The Boulogne Kop, the lower section of one of the stands where PSG’s most extreme fans traditionally assemble, has been closed on police orders until further notice. Panathinaikos, the frontrunner of Group G with two wins and a draw, has already secured its berth in the UEFA Cup’s next stage, where 32 contestants go into home-and-away knockout ties all the way to the final. Also already through are Rangers, Maccabi Haifa, Dinamo Bucharest, Nancy and Espanyol. All in all, 22 clubs will be chasing the competition’s remaining 12 spots in the final group matches tonight and tomorrow. The next stage’s draw will take place on Friday. Eight teams drop down from the Champions League as third-place group finishers to join the UEFA Cup’s field of 32. Athens club AEK is one of these. The others are Werder Bremen, Spartak Moscow, Bordeaux, Shakhtar Donetsk, Steaua Bucharest, Benfica and CSKA Moscow. The likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, AC Milan and Bayern Munich are still in contention for the far more prestigious competition. That means there are few big names to contend for the UEFA Cup’s May 16 final at Glasgow’s Hampden Park. (Reuters, AP, Kathimerini)
