France orders localized curfews as Paris soccer match stays on schedule

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu instructed prefects to impose narrowly targeted curfews after weekend violence hit public buildings and businesses across France, ABC7 Los Angeles reported. More than 2,000 people were arrested in the unrest.

The measures aim to prevent further rioting and looting as police face strains after weeks of student protests. Authorities have not identified the areas subject to curfews, while major European soccer matches remain scheduled.

According to ABC7 Los Angeles, the violence targeted city halls, other public buildings and hundreds of businesses. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said hundreds of businesses were looted Saturday and acknowledged that authorities lost control in some major cities.

Nuñez confirmed that Tuesday’s Paris Saint-Germain match against Barcelona at the Parc des Princes would go ahead. He said the match would require a robust security deployment, speaking after an emergency meeting of senior government officials about whether planned events should be canceled.

Other European competition matches this week would also proceed, including Wednesday’s Lille–Galatasaray match, Nuñez said. Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique declined to assess the unrest’s effect on his team and said its focus needed to remain on the match.

The NFL said last week that the Pittsburgh Steelers–New Orleans Saints game scheduled for Sunday at Stade de France remained on the calendar, ABC7 Los Angeles reported. The matchup would be the league’s first regular-season game in Paris. Nuñez did not address that game.

Nuñez offered to resign Sunday, but President Emmanuel Macron asked him to remain in office to respond to police needs. Macron also instructed him to ensure transparency about failures in planning and intelligence gathering that led to the violence, according to the report.

The curfew order leaves a key detail unresolved: which areas will face restrictions. Those locations had not been announced, according to ABC7 Los Angeles.