Brussels attack: Uefa confirm 'no plans' to play any Euro 2016 matches behind closed doors

Uefa insist that there are currently no plans to stage any European Championship fixtures behind closed doors. This comes after executive committee vice-president Giancarlo Abete claimed that such a possibility could not be ruled out due to the ongoing threat of terrorism.

The Belgian capital of Brussels was thrown into chaos on 22 March after explosions at Zaventem airport and the Maelbeek metro station killed at least 30 people and injured scores more. The Stade de France, which is due to host the opening match of Euro 2016 between France and Romania on 10 June, was used as a target for the widespread atrocities carried out across Paris in November 2015 when suicide bombers targeted two of the stadium's entrances and a nearby fast food restaurant.

"We are confident that all security measures will be in place for a safe and festive Euro and therefore there are no plans to play matches behind closed doors," Uefa said in an official statement as relayed by the BBC. "However, we are nevertheless working on contingency plans and on multiple scenarios around crisis situations since we take the security of all participants [players, fans, etc] very seriously."

Such reassurances were made after an interview given by Abete to Italian station Radio24, in which he said: "Euro 2016 is the kind of event that we can't delay or postpone. We can't exclude the possibility of playing behind closed doors, as we cannot exclude terrorism.

"If we talked about potentially cancellable games, such as a friendly or a competitive match, they could be moved to another date. Obviously this would not be the case. But we are talking about games which are staged for June whereas, today, we are going through a very urgent emergency."

In a separate release issued on Tuesday, Uefa reaffirmed "its commitment in placing safety and security at the centre of its organisational plans for Euro 2016".

They claimed that Euro Sas, a joint venture between European football's governing body and the French Football Federation (FFF) designed to handle the implementation of the tournament including private safety and security, had been working for three years with the relevant authorities "to develop the most appropriate mechanisms in order to guarantee a safe and secure tournament and all necessary measures are being taken to ensure that is the case for all involved."

Belgium were due to play an international friendly against Portugal at the King Baudouin Stadium in north-west Brussels on 29 March, but the Royal Belgian Football Association have now confirmed that the match will no longer take place for security reasons.