Report: Chelsea fans go on rampage in Paris, make Nazi salutes

Hooligans shout racist abuse, make "sieg heil" salutes before Champions League soccer match.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Paris St Germain's Christophe Jallet (L) challenges Chelsea's Eden Hazard during their Champions League quarter-final first leg soccer match at the Parc des Princes Stadium in Paris, April 2, 2014. (photo credit: REUTERS)
Paris St Germain's Christophe Jallet (L) challenges Chelsea's Eden Hazard during their Champions League quarter-final first leg soccer match at the Parc des Princes Stadium in Paris, April 2, 2014.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Fans of the Chelsea soccer team went on a rampage in central Paris, making Nazi salutes and vandalizing stores before a match with Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night, according to a report in The Guardian.
Dozens of drunk fans were seen rioting in tourist areas, shouting racist abuse and making Nazi salutes before attacking Paris Saint-Germain fans and throwing bottles at nearby cafe-goers.

Security authorities said around 100 hooligans from each side had been "looking for each other" with the aim of causing trouble since Tuesday evening but had been kept apart by police, the Guardian reported.

French media raised concerns about possible violence earlier in the week. The website Spacefoot.com said about 300 of the expected 2,200 Chelsea fans had been flagged by police as "potentially dangerous."
In another incident of anti-Semitic gestures in the soccer world, West Bromwich Albion footballer Nicolas Anelka - a former player for both Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain - was charged by the English Football Association in January for making the controversial "quenelle" salute during a match.
While its creator, French comedian M'Bala M'Bala Dieudonne calls it "anti-establishment," the gesture is widely regarded as anti-Semitic. The FA charged Anelka under Rule E3 for "making an abusive and/or indecent and/or insulting and/or improper gesture."