The Football Association (England) confirmed that the International friendly scheduled between England and France for the Tuesday night, is set to go on at the Wembley Stadium, much to the approval of England coach Roy Hodgson.
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“Following the tragic events in Paris The FA has this morning held discussions with our French counterparts,” said an FA representative in an official statement. “In solidarity with the FFF we fully respect and support this decision for the fixture to go ahead.”
England head coach Hodgson also agreed with the decision to go ahead with the friendly, and said that he believes that it is a great show of “solidarity” for the people of France.
“We respect the decision and will prepare accordingly, both on and off the pitch,” said Hodgson as quoted by the BBC. “The match will be a serious occasion but one that shows that the football world is united against these atrocities.
“I am sure the England team and our fans will play their part and show solidarity with our French friends on Tuesday evening and provide support for both teams during this difficult time.”
Euro 2016 to go on as planned in spite of security issues
The terror attacks in Paris, on Friday night (when the France vs. Germany friendly was going on) have thrown open talks of postponing or changing the venue of Euro 2016 which is set to be held in the country next year.
“The risk had gone one level up in January, it has just gone higher,” said Chief of Euro 2016 Jacques Lambert to French radio RTL (via Eurosport). “We will make the decisions we need to make so that the Euro finals can be held in the best security conditions. Security in stadiums works well, the risk is more in the streets, in spontaneous gatherings.”
“Wondering whether Euro 2016 must be cancelled is playing the game of the terrorists,” he further said.
However, the F d ration Fran aise de Football (FFF) have said that they would be going forward with their plan for hosting the tournament.
France, who are set to host the tournament also needs to play as many friendlies as possible, as they have not had to play in the qualifiers. Their main objective from these friendlies is to get the team chemistry going, ahead of Euro 2016.The friendlies in France would be a great example of how much safety the authorities in the country can provide, especially after a horrific incident like the Paris attacks. The friendlies will also stand for global solidarity and uphold the spirit of the game, in the face of the terror perpetrated by the attacks.