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09th Jun 2016

‘No precise security threat’ ahead of Euro 2016, organisers insist

Tony Cuddihy

There will be a massive police presence in France for the European Championships, which begin on Friday.

More than 90,000 soldiers, police and security guards will be deployed for the month-long tournament, with a state of emergency still in existence in Paris after last November’s terrorist attacks.

“As organisers, we are not aware of any precise, concrete threat targeting a game or a stadium in particular,” organising committee president Jacques Lambert told a news conference.

“Nobody can ignore what has happened in France and Europe in terms of security over the last few months and we have taken it fully into account,” he added.

“Our main aim has been to make sure we could offer the best possible tournament given the circumstances in every aspect, and that includes security.”

A massive 2.5 million supporters will watch 51 matches across 10 stadiums in France.

Lambert revealed that a double security perimeter would be in place around every venue and fan zone with two successive security checks for the supporters, who have been asked to arrive at the games early.

“A week after the November attacks, we met with government and city officials to talk about the fan zones and we all agreed it was safer to maintain them rather than to have the fans gathering at other public places with no security,” Lambert said.