PARIS, Oct 23 (Reuters) – The NFL will close its Paris pop-up shop on Saturday because of planned demonstrations in the French capital ahead of this weekend’s regular-season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints, the league said on Friday.
The store on Rue Saint-Merri had been operating as part of events surrounding Sunday’s game at the Stade de France, the first NFL regular-season contest to be held in France.
“The NFL Shop on Rue Saint-Merri will be closed tomorrow Saturday 24 October, due to potential accessibility issues,” the league said in a statement.
The street is located in Paris’ fourth arrondissement, in the city centre.
The league said the shop would remain open until 8 p.m. local time on Friday and that an alternative NFL pop-up store would operate at the Stade de France on Saturday.
The Steelers had already cancelled a fan event scheduled for the weekend at a bar on Place de la Bastille amid concerns over the demonstrations.
France experienced some of its worst urban unrest in recent years last weekend, prompting President Emmanuel Macron’s government to tighten restrictions on protests as authorities prepared for the possibility of further violence on Saturday.
Sunday’s game will take place in Saint-Denis, about 10 km north of Paris centre, with organisers continuing preparations despite disruption elsewhere in the city.
Concerns over renewed unrest have also led several major cultural venues, including the Louvre, to close on Saturday, while the Art Basel Paris fair will remain shut throughout the weekend.
(Reporting by Vincent Daheron, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
