Security Tightened at Champions League Matches Amid Terrorist Threats

EPAAn armed Civil Guard officer on patrol (illustrative)

NOS Nieuws•dinsdag, 16:33

Due to terrorist threats, extra security measures will be taken at the Champions League quarter-final matches tonight and tomorrow. Islamic State (IS) is said to have called on supporters to carry out an attack around the stadiums.

In a response, the European football association UEFA said that the threat is not yet a reason to postpone the matches. The association says it is in continuous contact with local authorities in London, Paris and Madrid.

Tonight Real Madrid takes on Manchester City in Madrid. Tomorrow Atlético Madrid will play against Borussia Dortmund, also in the Spanish capital. In Paris, Paris Saint-Germain plays against FC Barcelona and in London Arsenal plays against Bayern Munich.

2000 extra officers

Spanish authorities have deployed more than 2,000 national police and Guardia Civil officers in a surveillance operation. The English and French authorities are also taking extra measures.

According to reports from the BBC a media outlet that regularly posts messages about IS shared an image of a man with a gun, with three of the stadiums where football is being played in the background this week. The accompanying text read “kill them all”. The British medium writes that it is unclear to what extent the threat really comes from the terrorist organization itself.

Increased terrorist threat

A week and a half ago, the German police deployed extra officers around the competition match between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund due to an increased terrorist threat. There were no incidents then.

Last month, the French government raised the threat assessment to the highest level following the terror attack in a concert hall in Moscow. That attack, which killed at least 137 people, was claimed by a branch of IS. In Spain, the second highest threat level has been in effect since 2015.