Stuttgart police make host of arrests before Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain

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STUTTGART, Germany (AP) — Police have made a host of arrests to prevent violence around Stuttgart’s Champions League game against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday.

“In the run-up to the match, it became apparent that German and French hooligans from both clubs wanted to use the last preliminary round match of the Champions League as an opportunity to seek serious confrontations away from the stadium,” Stuttgart police said in a statement.

“In order to prevent the imminent encounter of these violence-seeking fans, the police carried out low-threshold, targeted checks on numerous French hooligans from Tuesday afternoon,” said police, who said they had been working in cooperation with Parisian counterparts.

The Stuttgart police said they took “59 French hooligans into custody, thereby preventing serious riots,” while 47 “high-risk Stuttgart fans” have also been banned from attending the game. The French fans will remain in custody until Thursday morning.

“Anyone who travels to Stuttgart to commit violent crimes off the field will be taken out of the game,” Stuttgart police vice president Carsten Höfler said.

The police said PSG fans including ringleaders traveled to Stuttgart without tickets, and that Stuttgart supporters – with help from “high-risk” supporters of French club Saint-Étienne – were looking for the visiting fans.

Local police found “French hooligans” at Stuttgart’s main train station and at various hotels, where searches found “disguise material among other things.”

Some of the Stuttgart fans who were banned from the game and the city center were carrying weapons, the police said.

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