Tonight’s Champions League matches are expected to go on despite the terrorist threats from the Islamic State as top security officials in Europe assured the world of tightened surveillance.
This comes after a media outlet supporting the Islamic State group published threats against venues that will host tonight’s and tomorrow’s matches.
A pro-IS media channel has published several images of stadiums hosting quarter-final ties on Tuesday and Wednesday.
In a report published by the BBC, Uefa said it was aware of the threats, but said games in Madrid, Paris and London would go ahead as planned.
Security raised ahead of Champions League matches https://t.co/0EmH7aR7mZ
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) April 9, 2024
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said there would be “considerably reinforced” security measures in place when PSG play Barcelona in Paris on Wednesday.
Mr Darmanin continued: “I will remind you that only 10 days ago, IS shared a picture of the Munich stadium and said action should be taken against sports venues that host football games – although all sports can be targeted. Given how important the Champions League is for football, we are of course talking to our partners.”
Two quarter-finals are due to be held in Madrid this week. Real Madrid host Manchester City on Tuesday, while Atletico Madrid take on Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday.
Pilar Alegría, Spain’s sports minister, has issued a message of “calm” ahead of the games in Madrid and said “more than 2,000 police and civil guard officers” are being deployed.
The acting mayor of Madrid, Inmaculada Sanz, told Spanish media there was no specific threat afoot, adding the terrorist alert level in Spain was four out of five, which is classified as high risk.
“These announcements are usually propaganda actions to provoke fear,” she said.
“Both the security forces and the intelligence services are studying any possible threat, but there is nothing that makes us foresee a situation of special risk.”
The pro-IS channel featured images of the Emirates Stadium in London, the Bernabeu and Metropolitano Stadiums in Madrid, as well as the Parc des Princes Stadium in Paris.
The threatening jihadist images shared this week did not refer to any particular match or event and were posted by pro-IS media groups not officially linked to the organisation itself.
However, it is thought the directive to publish the threats may have come from IS itself, as its leadership recently hinted at close co-ordination between official media operatives and online supporters.
A spokesman for European football’s governing body said: “Uefa is aware of alleged terrorist threats made towards this week’s Uefa Champions League matches and is closely liaising with the authorities at the respective venues.
“All matches are planned to go ahead as scheduled with appropriate security arrangements in place.”
Ahead of Arsenal’s match later against Bayern Munich at the Emirates Stadium, a spokesperson said venue staff were “working closely with the Metropolitan Police regarding the safety and security of all supporters and staff at Emirates Stadium for all our matches”.
“Our planning for tonight’s fixture is no different and our approach, working together with the Police and UEFA, is proportionate to the current UK threat level.”