Scenes of joy across the four corners of France… but also many excesses. Algeria’s qualification at the end of suspense and overtime for the quarter-finals of the African Football Cup of Nations on January 6 caused numerous gatherings in the streets and some damage.
In Paris, the Barbès district, where some smoke explosions had taken place, the RATP had, as a safety measure, stopped serving the station between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. In the North, in Lille, fireworks were fired at the police. According to our information, during a maneuver, a police officer was slightly injured without stopping his duty.
To prevent such excesses from happening again for the CAN quarter-finals, which are being held this Friday, January 9 and Saturday, January 10, Laurent Nuñez, Minister of the Interior, sent a letter to all the country’s prefects on January 8 to alert them to new risks of excesses.
In this missive revealed by BFM and which Le Parisien was able to consult, the minister recalls “spontaneous gatherings are regularly observed on public roads, testifying to the collective enthusiasm surrounding this Cup” but also, and above all, that they “could have generated excesses, particularly on the occasion of Algeria’s victory”.
“In this perspective, I hope that you mobilize and coordinate all the services placed under your authority in order to prevent any recurrence of these disturbances to public order during the quarter-finals (…) as well as the semi-finals which will be held on January 14, 2026.”
“In general, I ask you to mobilize all the administrative police powers at your disposal to deal with disturbances to public order during these matches, in particular by making it possible to fight against the misuse of pyrotechnic means and fireworks mortars (prefectural decrees prohibiting their sale and circulation), continues Laurent Nuñez. You will also ensure firm application of the instructions in force regarding removal and degradation and/or withdrawal of residence permits against foreigners who have disturbed public order. »
The Minister of the Interior also authorizes agents to “repress any illegal occupation of public road property, for example by organizing motorized rodeos or obstructions to traffic, in close collaboration with the judicial authority of your respective jurisdictions. »
Laurent Nuñez ends the letter with a handwritten message in which he asks the prefects to be vigilant.
