PARIS: Security will be “considerably reinforced” at Wednesday’s Champions League match in the French capital between Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona after a “threat” from Daesh group, the interior minister said.
Gerald Darmanin said the militant group had threatened all the quarter-final matches on Tuesday and Wednesday, not just PSG’s first leg clash with Barcelona at the Parc des Princes.
Darmanin said there had been “a clear threat publicly expressed by Daesh.”
“The police, whom I spoke to very early this morning, have considerably reinforced the security measures,” the minister told reporters.
A source close to the issue told AFP: “Daesh has threatened the Champions League quarter-finals, not specifically in France, through one of its communication outlets.”
In the matches on Tuesday, Arsenal take on Bayern Munich in London and Real Madrid host reigning European champions Manchester City.
In Wednesday’s other game, Atletico Madrid face Borussia Dortmund in the Spanish capital.
European football’s governing body UEFA said all the matches would go ahead despite the threat.
“UEFA is aware of alleged terrorist threats made toward this week’s UEFA Champions League matches and is closely liaising with the authorities at the respective venues,” the statement said.
“All matches are planned to go ahead as scheduled with appropriate security arrangements in place.”
PSG coach Luis Enrique said in his pre-match news conference: “Who is not worried or concerned by terrorist threats?
“I hope it is a thing we can control and that they are just threats and that nothing will happen.”
Security reinforced at PSG v Barcelona game after Daesh ‘threat’: French minister
https://arab.news/5x3pt
Security reinforced at PSG v Barcelona game after Daesh ‘threat’: French minister
- Gerald Darmanin said the militant group had threatened all the quarter-final matches on Tuesday and Wednesday
- Daesh has threatened the Champions League quarter-finals, not specifically in France, through one of its communication outlets
Morocco banish any doubts about ability to host World Cup 2030
- Impressive stadiums, easy transportation links and a well-established tourism infrastructure ensured the 24-team tournament went off without any major hitch and will assuage any doubters about the World Cup in four years’ time
RABAT: Morocco’s successful staging of the Africa Cup of Nations means there should be no skepticism about its ability to co-host the World Cup with Portugal and Spain in 2030, even if Sunday’s final was clouded by a walk-off and defeat for the home team.
Impressive stadiums, easy transportation links and a well-established tourism infrastructure ensured the
24-team tournament went off without any major hitch and will assuage any doubters about the World Cup in four years’ time.
Morocco plans to use six venues in 2030 and five of them were used for the Cup of Nations, providing world-class playing surfaces and a spectacular backdrop.
The Grande Stade in Tangier with a 75,000 capacity is an impressive facility in the northern coastal city, less than an hour’s ferry ride from Spain.
Meanwhile, FIFA President Gianni Infantino condemned "some Senegal players" for the "unacceptable scenes" which overshadowed their victory in the final when they left the pitch in protest at a penalty awarded to Morocco.
African football's showpiece event was marred by most of the Senegal team walking off when, deep into injury time of normal play and with the match locked at 0-0, Morocco were awarded a spot-kick following a VAR check by referee Jean-Jacques Ndala for a challenge on Brahim Diaz.
security personnel at the other end of the stadium, Senegal's players eventually returned to the pitch to see Diaz shoot a soft penalty into the arms of their goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.
The match was played at the Stade Moulay Abdellah in the capital Rabat, which has a capacity of 69,500. The attendance for the final was 66,526.
Stadiums in Agadir, Fes and Marrakech were also more than adequate and will now be renovated over the next few years.
But the crowning glory is the proposed 115,000-capacity Stade Hassan II on the outskirts of Casablanca which Morocco hope will be chosen to host the final over Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
In all, Morocco will spend $1.4 billion on the six stadiums. Also planned is extensive investment in airports, with some 10 Moroccan cities already running direct air links to Europe and many budget airlines offering flights to the country.
An extension of Africa’s only high-speed rail service, which already provides a comfortable three-hour ride from Tangier to Casablanca, further south to Agadir and Marrakech is also planned. Morocco hopes all of this will modernize its cities and boost the economy.
On the field, Morocco will hope to launch a credible challenge for a first African World Cup success, although on Sunday they continued their poor return in the Cup of Nations, where their only triumph came 50 years ago.
They surprised with a thrilling run to the last four at the Qatar 2022 World Cup as the first African nation to get that far and will hope for a similar impact at this year’s finals in North America. They are in Group C with Brazil, Scotland and Haiti.
