NFL says heightened security measures will be in place for the Steelers-Saints game in Paris

NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL said security will be heightened for the game in Paris between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints on Sunday after civil unrest protests engulfed the French capital last weekend.

Executive VP of club business, international and league events Peter O’Reilly said the league’s security team has been on the ground and that officials are working closely with Parisian and national authorities.

“We’re confident in our security plans,” O’Reilly said. “We’re being very vigilant in everything we do with all of our planning.”

O’Reilly said there was never a point that the game was in danger of not being played at Stade de France.

Rioters clashed with police, set cars on fire, stormed public buildings and engulfed a historic city hall in flames in France’s worst civil unrest in years as violence and looting swept through major cities.

About 2,400 people were arrested over the weekend, and authorities said thousands of businesses were damaged or looted. The rioting overshadowed demonstrations against rising living costs and poor conditions in schools in which hundreds of thousands of people marched peacefully.

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