PWHL excitement remains high for Montreal Victoire heading into Year 2

PARIS (AP) — There was a brief altercation between a small number of fans early into Thursday’s Nations League soccer game between France and Israel despite heavy security inside the stadium, a week after violence erupted in Amsterdam in connection with an Israeli club team’s visit.

Around 10 minutes after the game kicked off as scheduled at 8:45 p.m. local time, there was scuffle in the top section of the stand behind one of the goals, with some of those involved having Israeli flags draped over their backs. It was not clear what caused the altercation and security intervened after around one minute.

The match finished in a 0-0 draw with no further incidents at Stade de France. However, Israel’s national anthem was whistled by some fans when the players lined up and Israel players were jeered at times when they got the ball.

Chants of “Israel, Israel” could he heard from visiting fans for several minutes before the final whistle.

French police chief Laurent Nuñez said 4,000 police officers and security staff were deployed in and around the stadium, with another 1,500 police on public transport.

Several buses carrying Israel fans arrived under police escort and some were waving flags inside the stadium. Only about 16,600 of 80,000 tickets were sold, with around 150 Israel supporters present.

Paris authorities have been on high alert following the violence in Amsterdam before and after a Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Dutch authorities said fans from both sides were involved in the unrest. The assaults on Maccabi fans sparked outrage and were widely condemned as antisemitic.

“What we learned from Amsterdam is that we need to be present in the public space including far away from the stadium,” and in public transport, Nuñez said Thursday on French news broadcaster France Info.

A couple of hours before the game, a pro-Palestinian demonstration attracted several hundred people to a square in Saint-Denis to protest against the match taking place.

Israel’s team bus arrived at the stadium shortly after 7 p.m. local time. Around one hour before kickoff, Nuñez visited the stadium’s video surveillance facilities along with French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau.

Three months after hosting the Olympic closing ceremony, the atmosphere has gone from festive to fearful. French President Emmanuel Macron and Retailleau was present, along with former presidents Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy.

“We will not give in to antisemitism, anywhere. And violence, including in the French Republic, will never prevail, nor will intimidation,” Macron told BFM TV channel before the game.

The low number of visiting fans on Thursday came after Israel’s National Security Council warned citizens abroad to avoid sports and cultural events, specifically Thursday’s match.

Retailleau told French news channel TF1 earlier this week that exceptional measures were justified, despite no official threat being received.

The elite tactical unit of the French National Police, known as RAID, was in the stadium and some police in plain clothes mingled with fans. There was also heavy surveillance within Paris, including at Jewish places of worship and schools.

“It is out of the question that we take the risk of seeing a repeat of the dramatic events, of the manhunt, that we saw in Amsterdam,” Retailleau said, adding that postponing or moving the game elsewhere was ruled out.

In Amsterdam, a number of Maccabi fans attacked a cab and chanted anti-Arab slogans while some men carried out “hit and run” attacks on people they thought were Jews, according to city Mayor Femke Halsema.

After the match, parts of a large group of Maccabi supporters armed with sticks ran around “destroying things,” a 12-page report on the violence issued by Amsterdam authorities said.

There were also “rioters, moving in small groups, by foot, scooter or car, quickly attacking Maccabi fans before disappearing,” it said.

Protests erupted in Paris on Wednesday night against a controversial gala organized by far-right figures in support of Israel.

Nine years ago, Stade de France was one of several locations during the Nov. 13 terror attacks in which 130 people died. France was playing Germany that night when two explosions happened outside the stadium.

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AP Sports Writer Samuel Petrequin and Associated Press writer Tom Nouvian contributed to this report. ___

AP soccer:

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The world’s tallest teenager might have to wait a year to become the world’s tallest college basketball player.

Florida coach Todd Golden said Thursday that Olivier Rioux, a 7-foot-9 freshman who owns a spot in the Guinness record book, is planning to redshirt. Had the popular Canadian played in even one game, he would have burned one of his four seasons of college eligibility.

Instead, Rioux will spend the 2024-25 season practicing with teammates and honing his skills — and still be a freshman next fall.

“I should have made that clear (before),” Golden said. “Honestly, it’s put him in a tough situation. He’s sitting over there at the end of games and everybody’s yelling at him and trying to get him out there. They just hadn’t understood that that was our potential plan for him.

“So that’s where we’re at at this moment. I’m not saying that’s 100% going to be the plan. We’ll continue to talk to him and see if he changes what he wants to do. But as of right now, that’s the plan that we’re going to have with him as we move forward.”

Florida students chanted for “Oli” in both of the team’s home games this season. Golden emptied the bench in the final minutes of an 86-62 victory over Grambling State on Monday night and even said a few words to Rioux during the chaotic scene.

“I was just explaining to him, ’Hey, the reason why I’m not putting you in right now is what we’ve talked about a little bit,’” Golden said. “This wasn’t a choice that I made for him. This is something that people (from) our program have talked with him and his family and his parents, his AAU coach and just kind of trying to figure out what the best route for him is.

“I just went up to him and I was like, ‘Hey, I’m not trying to be disrespectful with you. I’m just not trying to burn your year putting you in for 30 seconds.’”

Rioux handled the decision well, Golden said.

“He’s a great kid, and he’s a pleaser,” Golden said. “He wants to do what others think is best for him. And he’s coachable. Again, if this is what our staff, his parents, the people around him that care about him, think is best, I think he’s going to be comfortable. Ultimately, it’s his decision. But I think that’s where he’ll land.”

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AP college basketball: and

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

A close friend of a man who was fatally shot by Hamilton police over the weekend says he witnessed Erixon Kabera’s last moments in hospital, and is now joining calls for a thorough investigation into his death.

Andy Ganza said he received a call from Kabera’s girlfriend, telling him she was on her way to Hamilton General Hospital and that his friend was in the operating room.

“I rushed my way down to the hospital … we went to the room, both of us, his girlfriend and myself, and they told us he was not going to make it,” he said in an interview Thursday.

“I believe he was in his last moments, and then they came back 10 minutes later to tell us that he had passed.”

Kabera, 43, died in the early morning hours on Sunday, after police were called to a Hamilton apartment building late Saturday afternoon.

Ontario’s police watchdog is investigating the circumstances of his death, and has said that Hamilton police were responding to reports of a man “acting in a threatening manner.”

The Special Investigations Unit’s initial statement said there was an “exchange of gunfire” with police, but later issued an update that said it does not appear the man had discharged a firearm before he was shot.

Kabera’s family – who have said he had no history of any kind of violence – decried what it called “a reversal of crucial facts,” but the SIU said the initial news release was based on information available at the time. The watchdog has also said that a “replica firearm” was collected from the scene.

Ganza said the local Rwandan Canadian community and Kabera’s family members will demand answers about the police shooting at a march and vigil being held at Hamilton City Hall Thursday evening.

“The statements about the events and/or the investigation have not been consistent and it’s been frustrating for us, for the family,” he said. “We want the truth. We are demanding thorough investigation that is transparent.”

Ganza said he has known Kabera for 10 years and they became close over the last seven years, after his friend moved to Hamilton.

He said Kabera started a family business with his uncle a year and a half ago, distributing produce, and he had worked as a public servant at the Canada Revenue Agency.

Ganza said his friend’s death has been extremely difficult, especially for Kabera’s three children, who range in age between 10 and 17, and his four siblings.

Two of those siblings live in Canada and have travelled to Hamilton from Regina and Gatineau, Que., Ganza said.

“I had to announce to them over the phone while on their way that he has passed away,” he said.

“It’s been very, very hard, extremely hard.”

Ganza said he started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to help the family cover the costs of the funeral and getting legal representation.

“The funeral service will be held on Saturday but he will not be buried here,” he said. “The body will be flown back home (to Rwanda). That is what the family decided.”

Hamilton’s police Chief Frank Bergen has expressed condolences to Kabera’s family and acknowledged that “there are many unanswered questions.”

“I trust the SIU will work to address these in a full, timely, transparent manner,” Bergen said in a statement.

Kabera’s family has called his death “senseless” and demanded “transparency and accountability” from authorities.

“We want to know details of the altercation so that we can understand the truth of what happened in Erixon’s final moments,” they said in a statement earlier this week.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.