French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has yet to respond.
France’s chief of police has proposed that a fan zone that can hold up to 90,000 fans in Paris be closed on days that Euro 2016 matches take place in the city.
According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), police chief Michel Cadot made the proposal in a letter to French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, citing the threat of terrorism and the “exhaustion” of overstretched police during the tournament.
The fan zone in Paris, located on the Champ de Mars at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, can accommodate up to 90,000 people and will be open to the public, free of charge, from 10 June to 10 July.
As well as being able to watch games on a 420 m² giant screen and eight other screens set up throughout, there will be concerts and other forms of entertainment for fans to avail of throughout the tournament.
Clip via mairiedeparis
Cadot is proposing that the fanzone be shut during all 12 games that take place in Paris during the tournament, which would include Ireland’s clash with Sweden in the Stade de France on 13 June. The fan zone is likely to be a popular meeting place for Irish supporters who can’t secure a ticket to the match.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls has said that fan zones in all ten host cities should remain open during the tournament unless there is a specific terrorist threat; France remains on high alert and in a state of emergency following the attacks on the city in November, when 130 people were killed.
The United States State Department issued a warning this week that “the large number of tourists visiting Europe in the summer months will present greater targets for terrorists planning attacks in public locations, especially at large events”.
Up to one million fans are expected to visit France during Euro 2016, which kicks off with the meeting of France and Romania on Friday, June 10 and comes to a conclusion with the final in the Stade de France on Sunday, July 10.
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