Uefa and the Euro 2016 organising committee will accelerate their security discussions in the coming months before next summer’s tournament in the wake of last month’s terrorist attacks on Paris.
The Euro 2016 president, Jacques Lambert, said the 10 host cities and the French government were committed to maintaining fanzones and would intensify their co-operation over the coming days and months now that the Paris climate talks were coming to an end. “Since 13 November we have held a number of technical meetings to learn all we can about what happened at the Stade de France and around it. We have also been in contact with officials at the Ministry of the Interior, the Paris police force, security and intelligence services,” he said before Saturday’s draw, which will take place amid tight security.
“The priority of the French government has been the climate conference. The co-ordination with the state services will intensify over coming days and weeks. We have the time to take a methodical approach.”
Lambert said that close co-operation with the authorities would be essential to ensure co-ordination between the private security surrounding the stadiums and fanzones and the police that would secure roads and public areas.
Lambert said that following a meeting on 24 November there had been a clear commitment to retain the fanzones that have become a key feature of major tournaments since they were introduced at the German World Cup.
“The government expressed that the host cities wanted to keep the idea of the fanzones. For them these are a place where crowds can gather and can see the matches for free on big screens,” said Lambert.
“They expressed the wish to have this crowd gathered in one place rather than scattered around the towns. Another desire expressed was to review the security system for the fanzones.”
The French Ministry of the Interior has accelerated the certification process for private security firms in order to ensure they can meet demand for the tournament, which kicks off next June.
The Uefa general secretary, Gianni Infantino, said its executive committee had discussed measures “to allow all the participants to enjoy a safe tournament inside and outside the stadiums, reaffirming the commitment to putting security at the heart of the event”.
Infantino, who refused to discuss his candidacy to replace Sepp Blatter following the suspension of the Uefa president, Michel Platini, also confirmed an increase in prize money for the 24-team tournament.
The teams will share €301m (£217m), compared with the €196m distributed at Euro 2012. The winners will receive €27m, up from €23.5m four years ago.
He also confirmed that a final decision on whether to introduce goal line technology in the European Championships and Uefa’s club competitions would be taken in January but said there had been a “positive” mood behind the discussions.
Asked how he would remember a year in which chaos and corruption allegations engulfed both Fifa and Uefa, Infantino said he hoped the focus would return to matters on the field in 2016.
“We are doing these jobs because we love football. Sadly in the last year not much has been said about football or done for football. I really wish that as of next year we can focus on football,” he said.
“That is what Fifa needs, Uefa needs, what all football fans need. I am always looking forward rather than behind.”
