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| Photo Credit: logovaults.com |
France said Wednesday it will deploy more than 60,000 police to
provide security for Euro 2016 as it vowed to do “everything possible to
avoid a terrorist attack” during the tournament that starts next month.
The comments from Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve
came after the Stade de France in Paris, which will host the event’s
opening match and final, descended into chaos Saturday before the
national cup final after smoke bombs were set off inside the stadium,
sparking panic among crowds that clustered at the stadium’s exits. Cazeneuve told the sports daily l’Equipe that the match between Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille “did not serve as a test” for Euro 2016. “It
was not the same public, not the same organiser, nor the same security
deployment,” he said. “However, what happened will be taken into
account” ahead of the month-long football tournament, which kicks off June 10. “Our
objective is that the Euro is a big festive gathering, but we owe the
French the truth. Zero percent precaution means 100 percent risk, but
100 percent precaution does not mean a zero percent risk,” he said. “We
are doing everything to avoid a terrorist attack, and we are preparing
to respond. More than 60,000 police will be on the ground.” The
Stade de France was targeted by suicide bombers during the attacks by
the Islamic State group on the French capital in November. The
assailants tried unsuccessfully to get inside the security perimeter. Cazeneuve
said security inside the stadium is the responsibility of UEFA, while
safety at the “fan zones” — which will accommodate seven million people
in 10 host cities across the country — is the mandate of private
security agents. “Fan zones are secure spaces, I took the decision
to impose security pat-downs at entrances, to use metal detectors and
to ban bags inside. If there were no fan zones, fans would regroup in an
ad-hoc setting and the risk (of an attack) would be greater,” he said. Despite the beefed-up measures, he said there was no particular threat against the football tournament. “At
this time we do not have a specific threat to a specific team or a
specific player, a specific match, or a specific fan zone,” he said. He
added that protests would not be banned but did not rule out possible
disorder as the country is gripped by a major labour strike. “It remains an open possibility... that security cannot be guaranteed by law and order forces.”
(AFP) France 24 Photo UEFA
