Paris police are deploying resources elsewhere as French authorities brace for another weekend of protests in the capital and across the country after some of the worst urban violence in years erupted on the sidelines of demonstrations a week ago. Paris Saint-Germain’s home Ligue 1 game against Lyon scheduled for this Sunday has been postponed until Monday, the French league announced, following a request by police amid a wave of violent protests in the French capital.
“The LFP takes note of the police decree prohibiting the staging of the game between Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais on Sunday at 8:45 pm (1945 GMT)… and has decided to reschedule the match for Monday at 8:30 pm,” the French league said in a statement.
The date change for PSG causes a potential headache as the match will now clash with the Ballon d’Or ceremony taking place in London on Monday evening. Several Paris museums, including the Louvre, have said they will be closed on Saturday, while Art Basel Paris, the biggest annual art fair in the French capital, will shut this weekend, two days early, due to the risk of protests. A year ago PSG also had to play a match on the same night as the Ballon d’Or ceremony, after their game in Marseille was postponed by 24 hours due to storms.
The first ever NFL match to be staged in France will be held at the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis on the northern outskirts of Paris. the NFL game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints taking place on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 pm (1330 GMT) is set to go ahead as planned While the PSG fixture is affected.
The postponement of the PSG game comes after a decision was taken earlier in the week to postpone another French top-flight football game, in the south-western city of Toulouse between the home team and Troyes, from Saturday to Sunday.
