Uefa vice-president Giancarlo Abete has confirmed that they will consider playing this summer’s European Championship behind closed doors if the threat of terrorism rises in the next three months.
Following Tuesday’s attacks in Brussels, which according to Sky News has killed at least 34 people as Zavantem Airport and Maalbeek metro station were targeted, the governing body has confirmed that extreme measures may be taken to ensure safety at the tournament in France.
Abete – who became vice-president of Uefa in 2011 having been head of the Italian FA – told Radio24, as reported by Sky Sports: “Euro 2016 is the kind of event that we can’t delay or postpone.
“We can’t exclude the possibility of playing behind closed doors, as we cannot exclude terrorism. If we talked about potentially cancellable games, such as a friendly or a competitive match, they could be moved to another date.
“Obviously this would not be the case. But we are talking about games which are staged for June whereas, today, we are going through a very urgent emergency.”
The tournament is set to begin on June 1oth with hosts France playing Romania in Saint-Denis, which is 170 miles from Brussels.
Belgium cancelled their training session yesterday after news of the attacks broke, and their friendly fixture against Portugal next week is currently in serious doubt.
During November of 2015, the city of Paris was the target of attacks and questions were raised at the time about whether a tournament like the Euros would be safe for players, supporters and officials to attend.
The recent events in Brussels will only cause more concern, but as shown at Wembley when England played France just days after the attacks, football has a special power to unite.
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