UEFA has claimed that there are “no plans” to play Euro 2016 matches behind closed doors despite suggestions of the contrary made by an official following the attacks in Belgium yesterday (22 March).
Making a statement today, the European football federation said that it was “confident all security measures will be in place for a safe and festive Euro,” which is being held in France between 10 June and 10 July.
“Therefore there are no plans to play matches behind closed doors,” it continued. “However, we are nevertheless working on contingency plans and on multiple scenarios around the crisis situations since we take the security of all participants [players, fans etc] very seriously.”
The statement appears to contradict claims made by UEFA executive committee vice-president Giancarlo Abete, who told Italian radio station Radio 24: “We can’t exclude the possibility of playing behind closed doors as we cannot exclude terrorism.”
His comments came after bomb attacks in the Belgian capital of Brussels claimed the lives of 34 people, and injured 250. In November, the Stade de France - the venue for the final of Euro 2016 - was subject of a terror plot after extremists tried to enter the stadium with explosives during a match between France and Germany.
