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Dozens of people were arrested in Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam for leading riots in the streets after Morocco's victory over Portugal in the quarterfinals of the World Cup, and the subsequent qualification of the Moroccan team to the semifinals, something that no African team had achieved until now.
Morocco's surprising victory against Portugal has sparked the joy of Moroccan fans all over the world, who have celebrated their historic promotion to the World Cup semifinals, also causing serious riots.
After the riots registered after matches such as the one that Morocco played against Belgium, some residents promoted the initiative through social networks to create a human chain to distance fans with violent behaviour from police units and prevent them from destroying street furniture, indicating the public chain RTBF.
Riots at many places
In Paris, some 20,000 people celebrated Morocco's victory on the Champs-Élysées, and some riots broke out in that same area and its adjacent streets.
A strong police device was deployed around the place and after some altercations, such as the burning of two motorcycles in the streets adjacent to the tourist avenue des Champs-Élysées, a total of 42 people were arrested in the French capital.
In Brussels, dozens of hooded youths threw objects at police officers, who responded with tear gas. Police spokeswoman Ilse van de Keere confirmed to Le Soir that, however, "there was no significant damage."
According to what one of the organizers of that human chain told this outlet, they do not want the Moroccan community in Brussels to be associated with "the violence of a small minority."
In the Netherlands, there were riots in various places in Amsterdam, where the police issued an emergency order to evacuate several streets and ended up deploying a water cannon and making several arrests, according to the ENTE public channel.
There were riots in several places in Amsterdam, according to the police, who around 8:00 p.m. issued an emergency order to evacuate several streets and ended up deploying a water cannon and making several arrests, reported the public channel NOS.
In Barcelona, apart from occasional traffic disturbances due to the occupation of public roads, no remarkable incidents have been recorded.
In the Catalan capital, the Plaza de Cataluña, the Rambla and the monument to Colom have become the epicentre of concentrations of fans, but the celebrations have been reproduced in other cities in the country.
In cities like Rotterdam, access to the centre has been cut off due to crowds, reported the public channel NOS, which reports the launch of fireworks but without disturbances.
In The Hague, on the other hand, there were fireworks launched against the police and the evacuation of some streets were ordered.
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