Despite safety concerns in France, the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints will square off in Paris this weekend.
Not only are there student protests taking place in France this month, there’s social unrest due to the current cost of living. There have reportedly been thousands of arrests and hundreds of injuries since the protests first started.
“Weekslong student protests against poor school conditions and teacher shortages in France showed no signs of slowing on Wednesday, with unions calling for continued action a day after mass rallies around the country,” The New York Times reported. “Demonstrators marched on Tuesday in dozens of cities and towns, from Caen in the north to Marseille in the south, drawing about 250,000 people, according to the Interior Ministry. Union activists, who have rallied in solidarity with high school students, put the number of demonstrators far higher.”
Steelers star T.J. Watt’s wife, Dani, isn’t thrilled about the league keeping this game in Paris despite social unrest. She shared a story from CBS Pittsburgh that included this line: “The NFL says it is continuing forward with plans for the upcoming Steelers-Saints game amid unrest in Paris.”
Dani’s post on social media included this caption: “Tell me how this makes sense???”
Justin Casterline/Getty Images
The NFL isn’t backing down.
It was confirmed earlier this month that Paris would remain the host city for the Steelers-Saints game in Week 7.
Peter O’Reilly, the NFL’s executive VP of club business, international and league events, reassured fans attending this game in Paris that there’ll be heightened security measures in place for Sunday.
“There’s nothing more important from our standpoint than the teams’ security, the fans’ security — everybody involved with this game,” O’Reilly said at the Fall League Meeting. “Obviously being very vigilant in everything we do, in all of our planning on an hour-by-hour basis, working closely with the two teams.”
The Steelers-Saints game will kick off at 9:30 a.m. ET.
