French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday encouraged the French national soccer team ahead of its match with Morocco in the semifinals of the World Cup in Qatar and stressed the «respect and friendship» between the two nations.
«All behind the Blues to victory! Without ever forgetting that sport unites us above all in respect and friendship between our two nations,» specified the French president on his official Twitter profile.
The French government has mobilized 10,000 police and gendarmerie personnel to deal with possible disturbances after the match in a police operation that will include 5,000 agents in the Paris region alone, the capital.
The Executive led by Macron thus anticipates possible mobilizations such as those experienced on Saturday, when the teams of France and Morocco won their respective matches in the quarterfinals. Some 170 people were arrested throughout France, including about a hundred in Paris.
