PARIS — There will be a heavy police presence but few visiting fans at Thursday’s soccer match between France and Israel in the Nations League, with authorities in Paris on high alert amid an increasingly tense political climate. French police chief Laurent Nuñez said 4,000 police officers and security staff will be deployed around the Stade de France stadium, with another 1,500 police on public transport. The extreme measures come one week after violence against Israeli fans around a Europa League soccer game in Amsterdam in attacks widely condemned across Europe as antisemitic. Three months after hosting an Olympic closing ceremony, the atmosphere has gone from festive to fearful and the national stadium was expected to be three-quarters empty for the match. French President Emmanuel Macron and French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau will be present.Only 20,000 of 80,000 tickets have been sold with around 150 Israel supporters reportedly attending, escorted by police. “We’ve tried to prepare for this match as normally as possible. But obviously none of us within the team can be insensitive to such a heavy context,” France coach Didier Deschamps said Wednesday. “It impacts the amount of supporters present tomorrow and everything that goes with it.”The away match against Israel on Oct. 10 — which France won 4-1 — was played in Budapest, Hungary.“These are situations the players are not accustomed to,” Deschamps said. “But we have to adapt.”The low number of visiting fans comes after Israel’s National Security Council warned citizens abroad to avoid sports and cultural events, specifically …
