PARIS: France’s security authorities have foiled a plan to attack soccer events during the upcoming Paris Olympics, the country’s interior minister said Friday.
It was the first such thwarted plot targeting the Games, which start in eight weeks as France is on its highest threat alert level.
Gerald Darmanin said in a statement that members of the General Directorate of Internal Security arrested an 18-year-old man from Chechnya on May 22 on suspicion of being behind a plan to attack soccer events that will be held in the southern city of Saint-Etienne.
According to the initial investigation, the man was preparing an attack targeting the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium in Saint-Etienne that will host several soccer matches during the Summer Games. The planned attack was to target spectators and police forces, the statement said. The suspect wanted to attack the Olympic events “to die and become a martyr,” the statement also said.
The Paris Olympics will run from July 26-Aug. 11. Soccer matches will take place in cities across France before the final in Paris’ Stade de France.
France is on in its highest security alert ahead of the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, which are expected to draw millions of visitors.
Darmanin, the interior minister, did not cite a specific security threat against the soccer event, but has said there are multiple potential threats, including those from Islamic extremist groups, violent environmental activists, far-right groups and cyberattacks from Russia or other adversaries.
The Paris Olympics organizing committee said it was made aware of the arrest and praised intelligence and security services. ‘’Security is the highest priority of Paris 2024. We are working daily in close coordination with the Interior Ministry and all stakeholders — and will continue to be fully mobilized,” it said in a statement.
Security concerns are notably high for the exceptional opening ceremony, which brings more than 100 world leaders to the French capital. It involves boats carrying athletes along the Seine River on a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) open-air parade and huge crowds watching from the embankments.
In April, French President Emmanuel Macron said the July 26 opening ceremony could be moved instead to the country’s national stadium if the security threat is deemed too high.
Organizers had originally planned to host as many as 600,000 people, most watching free of charge from riverbanks. But security and logistical concerns have led the government to progressively scale back its ambitions. Earlier this year, the overall number of spectators was reduced to around 300,000.
The French government also decided that tourists won’t be given free access to watch the opening ceremony because of security concerns. Free access will be invitation-only instead.
Extra security is also on hand for the Olympic torch relay, which passed on Friday through the monastery outcropping of Mont-Saint-Michel, which sees thousands of tourists daily.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan skipper Babar Azam on Friday defended the cricket team’s performance against England, vowing to fix all mistakes ahead of the Twenty20 World Cup scheduled to begin on June 2.

England thrashed Pakistan by seven wickets at the Oval on Thursday in their last match before the race for the T20 World Cup title begins. Victory gave England a 2-0 win in a four-match T20 series with two games washed out without a ball bowled.

“I agree that we made mistakes in the middle overs during battling and bowling both,” Azam said at a press conference on Friday. “We will try and fix this as soon as possible.”

The skipper said it was important to take chances during high-scoring matches, adding that all team members would sit and discuss how they had read the situation wrong and succumbed to pressure after losing back-to-back wickets. 

“We need to settle down after losing wickets to gain momentum again.”

Babar admitted that the team was struggling throughout the middle overs and urged his teammates to step up and take responsibility for the loss. He said though the team had collapsed during batting and bowling, their confidence remained high as they got to learn new things after facing a series loss. 

When asked if the team was selected on merit, Azam said no one was given an extra edge and all players were chosen after a thorough discussion between seven selection committee members.

“We have to back the players that got selected,” Azam said.

Azam assured that the cricket team was right on track and that winning and losing were part of the game. However, he accepted that even though all the players were performing well individually, they were “unable to click as a team.”

“We are performing individually but not as a team,” he concluded. “We are lagging here.”

The Pakistan team flew out to the United States earlier today, Friday, for the T20 World Cup series.