Euro 2016 president rules out games behind closed doors
Wednesday 2 March 2016 15:34, UK
The president of Euro 2016 has ruled out playing matches behind closed doors if there are security threats to stadiums.
A UEFA spokesman had previously said contingency plans were in place, including "the possibility to have matches postponed, moved to other venues or played without spectators" in case of an emergency situation.
It comes after the co-ordinated terror attacks on Paris on November 13 last year, which included an assault on the Stade de France - the venue for the opening and final matches of Euro 2016 - during a friendly international between France and Germany.
However, organisers have been meeting in Paris and there have been no new security issues following the attacks, with French sports minister Thierry Braillard re-iterating tournament president Jacques Lambert's stance.
Asked if matches could be played behind closed doors, Braillard said: "Jacques Lambert said today it is not a possibility.
"There will be two controls before access to the stadium and in the interior of the stadium the video prediction is more perfect to see all problems."
UEFA events CEO Martin Kallen added: "We have been working now for six years about it and we work very well together with the government which has a big part of the security responsibility.
"We are doing the private security and we are, in principle, pleased with the preparations we have today and we have no major issues open."
A UEFA spokesman had previously said: "We are working on contingency plans even though we are not aware of any specific threat. And we work on multiple scenarios, including the possibility to have matches postponed, moved to other venues or played without spectators.
"These are only some of the scenarios we are working on because we take the security of all participants [players, fans, etc] very seriously, but we are confident that all security measures will be in place for a safe and festive Euro."
