France is prepared to move the 2024 Olympic opening ceremony from the River Seine to another location should the security situation require it, President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday.
Macron said he was against "doomsaying" and changing plans hastily © Mena Today
France is prepared to move the 2024 Olympic opening ceremony from the River Seine to another location should the security situation require it, President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday.
"Given we're professionals, there obviously is a Plan B, Plan C, et cetera," Macron told France 5 television when asked if the security situation - currently marked by heightened alert across Europe over tensions in the Middle East - could thwart plans to hold the ceremony as planned.
Macron said he was against "doomsaying" and changing plans hastily, but added a Plan B could be triggered if "the level of insecurity requires us to revisit the initial scheme" without providing details.
European security officials have warned of a growing risk of attacks by Islamist militants amid the Israel-Hamas war, with the biggest threat likely from "lone wolf" assailants who are hard to track. France raised its security threshold in October, when a man with a knife killed a teacher in a school in northern France.
Earlier this month, the country's sports minister ruled out a change of plans after a man armed with a knife and hammer killed a German tourist and left two people wounded near the Eiffel Tower, saying "this not something we're working with."
The United Arab Emirates, represented by the UAE Winter Sports Federation, has officially joined World Curling as a Conditional Member Association, becoming the organization's 78th member following approval from the World Curling Board.
France began the Zinedine Zidane era with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Turkey in their UEFA Nations League opener at the Kocaeli Stadium in Izmit on Friday, though the victory was overshadowed by a knee injury to captain Kylian Mbappé.
A new chapter in French football history opens Friday in Turkey's Nations League, marking Zinedine Zidane's debut as France's head coach, a major challenge for one of the sport's true icons.
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