Will Euro 2016 be played behind closed doors after Brussels?

Massive security operation will be in place for the European Championships in France this summer

Harry Kane England
(Image credit: Paul Ellis/Getty)

Tuesday's terror attacks in Brussels have raised the possibility that this summer's European Football Championships in France could be played behind closed doors.

According to the Daily Mirror that is "the shock warning" from Uefa in the wake of the twin attacks on Belgium that left more than 30 people dead and hundreds injured.

The attacks, four months after 130 were killed in Paris in an assault that included the targeting of a football match at the Stade de France, are another stark reminder of the threat posed by Islamic State to Europe.

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Speaking to a French radio station hours after the attacks in Brussels, Uefa executive committee vice-president Giancarlo Abete reiterated the organisation's determination to press ahead with the tournament in France. "Euro 2016 is the kind of event we can't delay or postpone," he explained, before warning: "We can't exclude the possibility of playing behind closed doors as we cannot exclude terrorism.

Uefa issued a statement on Tuesday night in which it sought to downplay fears that Euro 16 would be a tournament without fans, insisting that "safety and security" were at the centre of its organisational plans for Euro 2016.

France's Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve issued a message along similar lines, declaring that: "It is 80 days to the start of Euro 2016 and the organisers, cities and state services are fully mobilised... Euro 2016 must combine sportsmanship, festivity and security for the teams, coaches and fans."

Nonetheless, The Sun claims that despite the reassurances from the French government a "ring of steel" will be erected around the tournament, particularly the 24 teams travelling to France.

The paper says that France has already "invoked a previously unused part of the EU's Lisbon Treaty to call on the help of British special forces throughout the entire tournament".

Security personnel from Interpol will also be present at team hotels, training camps and match stadiums to counter any possible attack from Islamic State.

Of particular concern to authorities is the match between England and Wales on 16 June, which will be in the northern French city of Lens, just 45 minutes from the Belgian border. According to the Sun, security chiefs from Uefa and the FA "have met in London and there have been various meetings with the UK Foreign Office as they attempt to formalise plans for this summer's tournament".