The French city of Nice was gripped by intense tensions ahead of a Europa League match between the home team and Italian team Roma. The incidents erupted in Place Masséna, one of the city's main squares, where Italian fans clashed with French police. According to reports in the newspaper L'Equipe, French authorities confirmed that 102 people were arrested and taken into custody after being found "in possession of weapons". Police in the Alpes-Maritimes department announced that the incidents began when some fans, sitting on a restaurant terrace, began throwing glasses at officers, forcing the intervention of the security forces and a chase through the alleys of Old Nice. Some of those arrested wore balaclavas to avoid identification, while a number of dangerous objects were seized during the searches, including iron bars, plastic pipes, broom handles, shovels, knives and hammers. To contain the unrest, over 200 police officers and gendarmes, including two mobile units, were deployed in key areas of the city. The detainees were transferred to police stations and then sent to the courts on the orders of the Nice prosecutor.
The Alpes-Maritimes prefecture has warned that more than 400 security forces, uniformed and civilian, will be deployed for the following evening, in order to prevent the escalation of violence and guarantee public order.
Lawyer Lorenzo Contucci, representing several Italian fans, stressed that these are 24-hour detention measures and not definitive arrests:
"If no evidence is found, they should be released; only those against whom there is concrete evidence can remain arrested."
According to him, in similar cases, French authorities often intervene with broad measures against crowds without clear individual distinction.
The episode brings to mind the events of 2013 in Warsaw, when dozens of Lazio fans were detained before a Europa League match against Legia Warsaw. Although the number of arrests at that time was lower, the violent clashes and attacks on police had raised similar concerns about safety and the measures needed to prevent such scenes in the future.
