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Euro 2016 organizers confident of safe tournament

Xinhua, June 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

Organizers of the European Championship told a press conference on Wednesday that they're confident of hosting a safe tournament with unprecedented security measures along with host cities and French government.

Security of the June 10-July 10 football event has been a major issue since last November's terror attacks that killed 130 people in Paris at sites across the capital, including the Stade de France where the opening game and the final will be held.

And with the most recent bombings in Brussels, Euro 2016 has been seen as "potential targets" for terrorist attacks and football fans have been urged to be vigilant during Euro 2016 in France.

"My message is clear: we have no knowledge of targeted, concrete threats within a stadium or other venues at Euro 2016," said Jacques Lambert, President of the Euro 2016 SAS.

"I believe the messages that have come from a number of countries are understandably precautionary.

"But we are in constant touch with the French security services and they are in contact with their partners in Europe and elsewhere," he added.

Euro 2016 is kicking off on Friday with the hosts France facing Group A rivals Romania, with a national state of emergency remaining in place until July 26 in order to cover the football tournament period and other significant events like the Tour de France cycling race.

More than 90,000 police, soldiers and private security agents will be deployed across France to ensure safety for the competition, as about 2.5 million spectators are expected for 51 football matches involving 24 teams played at 10 stadiums across the country.

"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," said Lambert.

"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."

As for the "fan zones" located in the downtown of the 10 host cities, Lambert promised they are going to be guarded with the same level of the stadiums hosting the matches.

"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," he said.

According to Lambert, a double security perimeter would be in place around every official venue and fan zone with two successive security checks and possible measures including the use of X-ray machines. That's why Lambert and his director general Martin Kallen advised supporters to come to the stadiums early.

"We are vigilant. We will be reactive. This position will be maintained so obviously it happens nothing serious security," said Lambert. Endit