Seine Olympics opening ceremony could be scrapped, Emmanuel Macron admits… as ISIS terror threat to Champions League matches puts Paris on ‘plan B and C’ alert
French President Emmanuel Macron has admitted that Paris 2024 may be forced to scrap its ambitious opening ceremony plans due to security concerns.
Organizers have planned to hold an opening ceremony downtown, marking the first time the show will take place outside a stadium.
The plans would see the nearly 10,500 athletes parade through the Seine on boats.
Athletes will be guided down a six-kilometre route of around 170 boats, which will pass landmarks including Notre Dame Cathedral, the Louvre and Place de la Concorde.
The route ends close to the Eiffel Tower, where the Trocadero Gardens host the finale of the ceremony.
Paris 2024 organizers may be forced to scrap plans for a downtown opening ceremony
Emmanuel Macron has admitted that the ceremony could be scrapped if the security risks are too great
The organizers have already almost halved the number of planned spectators down to 326,000
Macron speaks to French businesses BFM-TV and the RMC, stressed that the security operation around the event will be raised to an ‘exceptional level’.
However, the French president admitted that organizers could be forced to scrap their plans if security risks prove too great.
‘This opening ceremony is a world first. We can do it and we will do it,” Macron said.
“But if we think there are risks, depending on our analysis of the context, we have fallback scenarios
‘There are plan Bs and plan Cs.
‘We prepare them in parallel, we will do an analysis in real time. We have a ceremony which would be limited to the Trocadéro and therefore would not cover the whole of the Seine.’
Macron confirmed that one option would be for the opening ceremony to be moved to the Stade de France, returning to a traditional ceremony.
When asked by a caller concerned about her son attending the ceremony, Marcon replied, “If there’s any place your son will be safe, it’s there.” We will screen all the people coming in and out.’
Macron acknowledged that moving the ceremony to the Stade de France is a possible alternative
The French president spoke with 100 days to the Olympic Games in Paris 2024
Security was increased at Champions League matches last week after tapes targeted specific threats
The group threatened to kill fans in London, Paris and Madrid, stoking tensions in a letter from IS’s propaganda wing
Macron’s comments come a week after an apparent threat from a regional branch of Islamic State to Champions League matches across Europe.
Security was moved up in Paris – where Paris Saint-Germain host Barcelona at the Parc des Princes – Madrid, for Real Madridis clash with Manchester Cityand at the Emirates, where Arsenal hosted by Bayern Munich.
All three tapes passed without incident, but French authorities went so far as to draft in their elite counter-terrorism BRI (Research and Intervention Brigade) after a post was shared by the Al-Azaim Foundation, a media channel responsible for spreading messages from the ISIS-K branch of the terrorist group.
ISIS-K claimed responsibility for the deadly terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall in Moscow last month.
The attack prompted the French government to raise its security alert to its highest level.
Reports last week claimed that German security officials believe the group could target this summer’s European Championships.
Paris 2024 organizers last month almost halved the number of spectators permitted to attend the opening ceremony in the city center, reducing the number from 600,000 to 326,000.
Total 104,000 spectators will be ticket holders on the lower banks of the Seine, while another 222,000 will watch for free from the upper banks.
The free tickets will be by invitation only, rather than being available to the public via open enrollment.
The chief executive of the Olympic Games, Christophe Dubi, had claimed that the ceremony could be scaled down further, but appeared to suggest that moving the event to a stadium would be unlikely.
Paris has planned to hold the first Olympic opening ceremony outside a stadium
The Olympic Games begin in the French capital on July 26 and run until August 11
“You can adjust according to the level of risk,” Dubi said Sky News.
“So, depending on the nature of the threat, this can of course be further reduced if necessary.
‘It was an underlying question which is ‘can we go back to another place, say a stadium somewhere?’
‘You can’t plan a Plan B. It’s far too big, too sophisticated, too complex artistically to look at a Plan B somewhere else.
‘Plan B is to reduce, adjust, but that’s the location.’
The opening ceremony will take place on July 26, with the competition running until August 11. The Paralympic Games then follow from 28 August to 8 September.