The full France squad, with the bereaved Lassana Diarra in their number, will travel to London on Monday before the friendly against England at Wembley united in defiance in the aftermath of the terrorist atrocities in Paris.
Diarra lost his cousin Asta Diakité among the more than 130 people killed in Friday’s attacks across the French capital while the former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder was playing for his country at the Stade de France. The venue was targeted by suicide bombers, with three bombs detonated outside the arena. It has since emerged the sister of another member of Didier Deschamps’ 23-man squad, Antoine Griezmann, escaped unhurt from the Bataclan theatre where at least 89 people were killed.
The France squad, who returned to Clairefontaine at around 4am on Saturday morning and trained behind closed doors over the weekend, were not consulted by the France Football Federation over whether Tuesday’s friendly at Wembley should proceed. However, with some in the party having indicated in private their concern at playing the match, there was an acknowledgement any players who felt they could not travel to London would be permitted to drop out.
As it is, Diarra and Griezmann, who each played in Friday’s 2-0 win over Germany, have opted to take a stand in a game Theresa May has stressed should go ahead as a sign “the terrorists will not win”.
There will be heightened security at Wembley, with supporters urged to arrive earlier than usual given stringent searches and a more visible police presence than usual. The FA has been in lengthy discussions with the government and Metropolitan police over the weekend and, while there is no specific intelligence to suggest this game is under any greater threat, they are taking prudent and appropriate measures to reassure fans in what is expected to be a crowd in excess of 70,000.
“It is the intention that the match will still go ahead,” said May after the home secretary had chaired a meeting of the government’s emergency committee on Sunday. “We are in absolute solidarity with the people of Franceand, together, we need to show that the terrorists will not win and we will defeat them.”
To that end, England’s players have also spoken to the FA about paying their own tribute before the kick-off. Nine of Deschamps’ squad play at English clubs, and another four have played in the Premier League
Their sentiment has been shared by supporters: the words to La Marseillaise will be displayed within Wembley for home fans to sing during the anthems. The Wembley arch will be lit up in the red, white and blue of the French tricolour – as it has been since Friday – while screens outside the arena will display the French motto “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité”.
There have been calls, too, for the FA to make the game “a symbol of friendship and fraternity” by donating profits to charity, with more than 14,000 signatures already added to an online petition for proceeds to be given to the French Red Cross and Médécins sans Frontières.
While the occasion will inevitably be emotionally charged, Jacques Lambert, the head of the organising committee for Euro 2016 to be staged in France, has called for “calm heads” as he, the FFF president, Noel le Graet, Uefa and the French government prepare to work further on security issues before next summer’s tournament.
The finals will have 24 teams playing across 10 venues, with stadiums, training camps and team hotels technically falling under the responsibility of the tournament organisers and, under an agreement struck in September, the state assuring security around those locations.
“We all need to assess and decide over the coming weeks what is best for the safety of spectators at the Euros,” said Lambert. “We have worked for three years on safety measures with the Interior Ministry and the prefectures in each of the host cities. We have not finished the job, but we still have seven months to refine, tweak, adjust. It is obvious that lessons are being learned and will be drawn from what has happened in Paris. There will be additional and different things planned. Security is the major challenge in organising this event.”
Germany’s players, who had remained at the Stade de France on Friday night, will play Holland as planned on Tuesday in Hanover with Angela Merkel in attendance along with the interior minister, Thomas de Maiziere. “The message is clear: we will not be intimidated by terror,” said the interim German football association (DFB) president, Reinhard Rauball. “For the team to play against the Dutch only a few days after the terrible experiences in Paris is a necessary signal.”
Russia, who will play a friendly against France in Paris next March, have indicated they are not seeking a change in venue though the sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, has indicated security at their own stadiums will be “(beefed up”.Dominic Fifield)
LInk: http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/nov/15/france-squad-england-friendly-paris-attacks
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