UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has expressed confidence in the security arrangements for Euro 2024 in Germany, citing no specific threats but remaining wary of the broader geopolitical landscape.
“We don’t have any concrete security issues. But the security issue for me is a violent geopolitical situation in the world,” the head of Europe’s governing football body told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) in an interview.
“More and more violence. More and more aggression. The situation is not ideal in the world in principle.”
Ceferin said ahead of the monthlong Euros in 10 German cities, which start on Friday, that this was one reason why it was good to have the event in one country again and not across the continent like in 2021.
“It’s much easier for us to work with one police and one secret service in one country compared with a tournament in more countries,” he said.
“It’s always a challenge to organize a huge event like the Euro, due to the increased safety and security considerations. In this aspect, it’s probably a bigger challenge than organizing the Olympic Games.
“And we work well with the German authorities. I visited the Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, in Berlin and we spoke before a couple of times. Everybody is cooperating.”
German politicians have pledged that the tournament will be as safe as possible for everyone, with Faeser saying on the weekend that 22,000 police officers will be working just for the Euros every day.
Faeser also told Germans and visitors to go and enjoy the tournament, with Ceferin agreeing because “football is one of the rare things that can still bring people together.”
“I really think this could be a big festival of friendship,” he said.
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