Public security officials in England, France and Spain said on Tuesday they would step up security for matches this week in the Champions League, Europe’s marquee soccer competition, after ISIS-linked groups called for violent attacks at the matches.
The first of four quarter-final matches were scheduled in London and Madrid on Tuesday and would feature some of the top teams in world football: Spain’s Real Madrid. English giants Arsenal and Manchester City. and Germany’s Bayern Munich. Two more high-profile races take place on Wednesday in Paris and Madrid.
“We do not know which location could be particularly targeted, nor under what circumstances,” French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin told reporters in Paris. However, he said he had spoken to police officials in Paris on Tuesday morning and had been assured they had “significantly stepped up security measures”.
In Spain, the interior ministry said it raised the country’s terror alert level after a photo appeared online bearing the message “Kill them all” and the names of the four stadiums where this week’s matches will be held, according to with references to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo. The ministry said security measures at the games in Madrid had been increased and additional agents had been deployed.
At least one of the threats was accompanied by an image showing the main entrances to Arsenal’s London ground.
“The UK’s terror threat level remains at ‘substantial’, meaning an attack is likely,” said Ade Adelekan, deputy assistant commissioner for the Metropolitan Police in London. The Metropolitan Police have said they will have a “robust” security plan in place for the Arsenal-Bayern Munich match at London’s Emirates Stadium.
“We are aware of the internet and media reports of calls to target matches across Europe and here in London,” Commissioner Adelekan said. Police asked the public to report anything that “doesn’t look or feel right,” he said.
Arsenal’s match against Bayern Munich is the first of two quarter-finals on Tuesday. In the other, in Madrid, Real Madrid will host the English champions Manchester City.
On Wednesday, Atletico Madrid will play another German team, Borussia Dortmund, and Paris Saint-Germain will host Barcelona.
European soccer’s governing body UEFA, which organizes the tournament, said it was aware of the threats and was in contact with authorities in each city, but that the four matches “are scheduled to go ahead as scheduled with appropriate security arrangements in place. “
Threats from ISIS or ISIS-affiliated groups urging attacks on Western targets are not uncommon. in the wake of a deadly concert attack near Moscow last month, for example, an ISIS spokesman urged so-called lone wolves to attack targets in the United States, Europe and Israel.
While Mr. Darmanin stressed that he did not have specific information about the threats in Paris and the other cities, they had to be taken seriously. He said he had instructed French intelligence services to share information with the other countries hosting the quarter-final matches.
