(Reuters) – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Thursday said it was confident French authorities would keep the Paris 2024 Olympics safe with an extensive security plan.
The French capital is preparing for hundreds of thousands of visitors at the 16-day Games, including a July 26 opening ceremony along the river Seine with 600,000 spectators expected to watch 160 boats carrying the athletes through central Paris.
The opening ceremony is considered a major security challenge by itself with more than 45,000 security staff deployed on that day.
French President Emmanuel Macron said last month that France was prepared to move the opening ceremony to another location should the security situation require it.
European security officials have warned of a growing risk of attacks by Islamist militants amid the Israel-Hamas war, with the biggest threat likely to be 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.
“Obviously we are in constant contact (with Games organisers),” IOC spokesperson Mark Adams told a press conference in South Korea’s Gangneung at the end of an IOC Executive Board meeting.
“We do have very high confidence in authorities to make sure that these Games are safe and secure.”
With a security budget of 320 million euros ($348.42 million), France will be deploying some 35,000 security staff for the days after the opening ceremony, with many competitions and events held in the centre of the city.
“This confidence was built on a report received in December (from French authorities) … on the measures to be taken during the Games,” said Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi.
“They are mobilising all the resources needed, to the tune of about 45,000 security forces the day of the opening ceremony and for all remaining days 35,000, each and every day, 24 hours a day.
“This is a great effort being made here,” Dubi said.
($1 = 0.9184 euros)
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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