Police Arrest Hundreds After Champions League Riots in France

‘This is not soccer, this is not sport, this is not what we love,’ French President Emmanuel Macron said.

A car burns as Paris St Germain supporters' celebrations of a second successive Champions League success turn into a riot in Paris on May 30, 2026. Thomas Padilla/AP

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 57 police officers were injured on the night of May 30 and in the early hours of May 31 after soccer fans celebrating Paris St Germain’s (PSG’s) second successive victory in the UEFA Champions League final rioted in several French cities.

Nuñez said during a May 31 news conference that 780 people had been detained in Paris and other cities following PSG’s 4–3 penalty win over Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, after the match ended in a 1–1 stalemate in extra time. The Paris prosecutors’ office said 306 people were in police custody, including 81 children under 18. It said they faced charges of assaulting police officers, theft, vandalism, and public order offenses.