Euro 2016 organiser Jacques Lambert has said that the tournament will not be cancelled, as that would be giving in to the terrorists who attacked Paris on Friday night. Security will be intense both in and around the stadium following reports that at least one of three suicide bombers tried to access the Stade de France on Friday before being prevented by security.
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Concerns have been raised by fans after the city’s second terror attack of the year but tournament organisers are working on an updated security plan.
“The risk level was up a notch in January, and it just got up a notch”.
The FFF holds regular security committee meetings with Euro 2016 organizers, with another scheduled for Monday. Security in stadiums works well, the risk is more in the streets, in spontaneous gatherings.
The draw for Euro 2016 is due to take place in Paris next month, and the finals begin on 10 June at 10 venues across France.
French Football Federation president Noel Le Graet revealed that he was anxious about safety issues for the competition, but Lambert believes that cancelling the tournament would only play into the hands of the terrorists.
He said: “For me it’s sad that humanity comes to that, and human beings do that to each other”.
Before the Euro 2016 football playoff between Sweden and Denmark at the Friends Arena in Stockholm, the stadium was lit up in red, white and blue.
The Charlie Hebdo massacre in January and the near-disaster in August, when a gun attack on a train to Paris was narrowly foiled, had demonstrated that France was becoming arguably the No?1 target for terrorists in the western world. Obviously this causes us to be even more vigilant.
UEFA and FIFA have to also take a stand and I am sure that football’s governing bodies will do their best to ensure everyone’s safety next year.
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Even if each stadium is secured, there’s concern over fan zones in each of the 10 cities where supporters will gather to watch games on big screens.
