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UEFA and local authorities are monitoring threats by Islamic State terrorists against this week’s Champions League game being held in London, Paris, and Madrid.
On Tuesday, Real Madrid host defending champions Manchester City in Madrid, while Arsenal will be welcoming German powerhouse Bayern Munich to the Emirates Stadium in London.
Then, on Wednesday, March 10, Madrid will also be the sight of a Champions League quarterfinal tie as Atletico Madrid hosts German side Borussia Dortmund, while Kylian Mbappe’s PSG will take on Barcelona at the Parc des Princes in Paris.
In a statement, UEFA said that they’re aware of the threats and are working closely with local authorities, and, as such, intend for the matches to go on as planned.
“UEFA is aware of alleged terrorist threats made towards this week’s UEFA Champions League matches and is closely liaising with the authorities at the respective venues. All matches are planned to go ahead as scheduled with appropriate security arrangements in place,” the governing body of European football said in a statement to ESPN, which also reached out to London’s Metropolitan Police for comment.
ESPN also got a comment from Spain’s interior ministry, who said that more than 2,000 officers will be deployed.
“The State Security agencies have designed an operational deployment in which more than 2,000 National Police and Civil Guard agents will participate, to which members of Madrid’s Municipal Police will be added, to ensure the correct development of the two sporting events taking place today [Tuesday] and tomorrow [Wednesday] in the capital.”
“This deployment is coordinated and has the support provided for in the measures that, throughout the territory of the State, establishes the Anti-Terrorist Prevention, Protection and Response Plan for the current level 4 out of 5 of anti-terrorist alert, to which various measures have also been added to prevent these type of contingencies.”
Similarly, France’s interior ministry also confirmed that there will be an increased police presence in Paris on the day of the PSG-Barca match.
Both the Arsenal-Bayern match and City-Madrid match will be kicking off on Tuesday, April 9 at 3 p.m. EST EST. Similarly, Atletico-Dortmund and PSG-Barca will kick off at 3 p.m. EST on Wednesday, April 10.