Euro 2016 could be conducted behind closed doors, says UEFA official Giancarlo Abete
The vice-president of UEFA's executive committee Giancarlo Abete has gone on record to state that the matches at Euro 2016 could see a lockout following the atrocious terrorist attacks that happened at Brussels on Tuesday.
Also read: UEFA Euro 2016 fixtures: Dates, group, schedule, time and venues for the tournament, PDF Download
A few hours after the series of unfortunate occurrences took place, UEFA released an official statement which “reaffirmed its commitment in placing safety and security at the centre of its organisational plans for Euro 2016.”
Also read: UEFA Champions League 2015-16 semi-final draw: Timings, Live streaming and TV Information
However in an interview given to Radio 24, Giancarlo Abete said, “Euro 2016 is the kind of event we can’t delay or postpone. We can’t exclude the possibility of playing behind closed doors as we cannot exclude terrorism. If we talked about potentially cancellable games such as a friendly or a competitive match that could be moved to another date, obviously this would not be the case.”
“But we are talking about games which are staged for June, whereas today we are going through about a very urgent emergency,” the high-ranking UEFA official added.
Be that as it may, Bernard Cazeneuve, the French interior minister has reassured the press on Tuesday that all the plausible measures will be ensured to guarantee the security of the footballers, team management and spectators during the course of the tournament.
The organisers of the UEFA Euro tournament made an official statement last month that 10,000 security personnel had been hired to control the proceedings during the length of the tournament and that figure included 900 guards that would ensure safety for each of the 51 games that have been scheduled to be played.
The Belgian national team's friendly against Portugal that was supposed to take place at the King Baudouin Stadium was cancelled and the entire squad also cancelled their training session yesterday in order to pay homage to the victims of the Brussels terror attack.
The on-loan Norwich striker, Dieumerci Mbokani was reportedly present at Brussels airport yesterday which was one of the sites of the terrorist attack that shook the entire nation to its core. Mbokani is said to be “unharmed but shaken" as an aftermath of the terror attack.
The England national football team is supposed to fly to Berlin on Friday as the three lions are set to take on their German counterparts on 26 March in an international friendly.
"Our plans have not changed. There have been no changes made to our itinerary and we have been in constant contact with the German authorities. Our security measures are already very stringent," an FA official told the press.