Despite Local Unrest ~ Steelers/Saints Plan to Play in Paris
NFL reiterates plan to play Steelers-Saints in Paris, despite local unrest
Ongoing social unrest in Paris has raised questions regarding the Steelers-Saints game due to be played there in 11 days.
On Wednesday, the league issued a statement indicating that it’s full steam ahead in the land of berets and really long, skinny loaves of bread.
“We’re excited for the first-ever regular season game in Paris, and preparations continue as scheduled for NFL events and the game at Stade de France on October 25,” the NFL said in a statement, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN. “As we do for every NFL game, including our international games, we work closely with local authorities and partners on all operational and security matters. We look forward to welcoming fans to Paris later this month.”
Whether they “look forward” to it and whether it will actually happen are two different things. And if the NFL ultimately concludes that the staging of the game will present safety issues for anyone involved, the NFL surely will reconsider its plans.
The most obvious alternative would be to play the game in New Orleans. When the NFL decided in 2018 that the field in Mexico City was unsuitable for play, the Chiefs-Rams game was moved to L.A.
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PARIS (AP) — France has seen thousands of arrests, hundreds of injuries, and schools set on fire as the new school year descended into nationwide student protests that are influencing France’s presidential election campaign and drawing international attention.
It’s the latest challenge to Emmanuel Macron’s presidency in a country beset by crises, both foreign and domestic.
The majority of protesters have been peaceful, but violence on the fringes is having an impact, with a daily menu of fireworks thrown at police and volleys of tear gas fired at high school pupils.
On Tuesday, climate and social justice activist Greta Thunberg joined students at a high school in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, as France faced a new day of nationwide marches and strikes on top of the blockades at schools.
Here is what to know about the movement:
The protests started in a Paris suburb
Demonstrations first erupted last month in a high school in Creteil southeast of Paris over a lack of staff. From there, class strikes, blockades and demonstrations spread to other Paris suburbs and then nationwide, even in smaller towns. Hundreds of schools had to close because of damage or attacks on staff.
High schoolers are expressing broad grievances over schools that are under-resourced, with dilapidated facilities and insufficient staff, notably in lower-income neighborhoods. French media have shown videos of scampering rats, collapsed ceilings, leaks, broken furniture and other woes in dilapidated schools.
Some students also complain that during summer heat waves, they roast in classrooms without air-conditioning, while in winter they freeze. They say school days, which often run from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., are too exhausting and the university entrance system is complex and unfair. Some university students have also joined the protests.
There have been broader concerns in France that the country’s education system is losing ground to other countries and failing in its mission to enable children from disadvantaged backgrounds to move up the social ladder. Scores in reading comprehension and mathematics have plunged, according to the latest PISA report, which evaluates students worldwide.
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If they storm the Bastille, NFL better get outta there
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