On December 13, 2022, at the National Assembly in France, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, recalled the facts regarding the evening of December 10, marked by Morocco’s victory over Portugal. and subsequent acts of vandalism, promptly attributed to Moroccan supporters.
While some journalists, experts and other speakers accustomed to the sets of continuous news channels have been talking, since December 10, of scenes of extreme violence committed by Moroccan supporters in France, and clashes with the police in the streets of Paris, the French Minister of the Interior reframed things.
Asked by a deputy regarding these clashes described in the press as apocalyptic and suggesting a “civil war” on Wednesday, following the Morocco-France match, Gérald Darmanin first played the card of fair play and sportsmanship.
“In Paris, there were tens of thousands of people who were delighted with the qualification on the one hand from Morocco and on the other from France. Maybe you might have started by congratulating these two teams and maybe you might have imagined for a moment being happy with the others? he started straight away.
Under the applause of part of the National Assembly, Gérald Darmanin encouraged the opposing party to “be happy with our people, to satisfy us, indeed, that the Moroccan team is qualified in the semi-finals of the Cup of the world. I want to tell them that my role as Minister of the Interior is above all to allow them to celebrate the victory of their national team, as the French have celebrated their victory all over the world.
An answer which undoubtedly refers to the question posed by Eric Zemmour, leader of the Reconquest party to the attention of King Mohammed VI and the Moroccan people, during a debate on BFMTV on December 12. Indeed, the former polemicist wondered: “how would the King of Morocco react if thousands of French people came to Marrakech to celebrate the victory of France?”. And to continue, “I believe that they (the Moroccans) would feel a little dispossessed of their country”.
A question that does not need to be asked in Morocco, where scenes of jubilation are shared between communities of different origins, where sports victories are celebrated together, as evidenced by the widely documented festive atmosphere in the streets of Morocco during the CAN and the World Cup.
Focusing then on the figures, the Minister of the Interior clarified a situation which had been excessively exaggerated by certain voices. “In Paris, there were 1,200 police officers mobilized and there were three windows that had broken glass on the Champs-Elysées – when there were 20,000 people who were at the rendezvous – and three scooters that experienced degradations. This is the truth of the figures in Paris, ”he said. All this uproar for three windows that had broken glass and three scooters that suffered damage!
As for the arrests, Gérald Darmanin specifies that “there were 107 arrests”, and not 170 as advanced by the French media, and notes, he continues with regard to his interlocutor, “you have not not specified that three quarters of them were French citizens (…). Your question was placed in such a way that it was clearly the Moroccans who were responsible”.
And to thank the Keeper of the Seals, Eric Dupond-Moretti, visibly conquered by the speech of the Minister of the Interior who specifies that “the 107 people arrested in Paris will know from Friday a specific hearing of the Paris prosecutor’s office to be able to know an appearance immediate”.
“So Bravo to Morocco. Congratulations to the French team. Kudos to the police. Thanks to the Paris prosecutor’s office. And rejoice for once. Stop being grumpy, ”he concluded.
