Wembley football fans to pay tribute to Paris terror victims
It had been planned as a prestige end-of-year football friendly -- but England's meeting with France at Wembley on Tuesday (November 17) will instead become a 90,000-strong tribute to the victims of the Paris terror attacks.
Close-up of the Wembley Arch
Wembley Stadium’s arch has been lit in red, white and blue to resemble the French national flag’s Tricolore. And all those present at Wembley will be urged to sing the French national anthem La Marseilliase in a show of unity with the people of France. The words to the anthem will be displayed on the stadium’s giant screens, while the French national motto – Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite – will glow from screens outside the ground.
Multiple French flags as commonly flown from public buildings
Said the chief of the English Football Association (FA),
"The eyes of the world will be on this game. It is important to do something to show that terrorism cannot win."
On Saturday (November 14), both the French Football Federation (FFF) and the English Football Association issued statements to confirm that the game would go ahead in the aftermath of the atrocity, in which at least 129 people died at a series of locations across the French capital on Friday (November 13).
Logo of the English Football Association as displayed on the exterior of Wembley Stadium
The attacks, the worst violence in Paris since the Second World War, saw an area close to the Stade de France targeted as France played World Cup winners Germany in a friendly match. Explosions, which claimed the lives of four people, could clearly be heard in the stadium although the match, won 2-0 by France, was played to a conclusion.
Aerial view of the Stade de France in Paris and its surroundings
The long shadow cast by the horrors of Friday means Tuesday's game will see the biggest security operation ever conducted at the new Wembley stadium. Fans are being told to arrive early, with arrangements having been made for stringent personnel and bag checks and extra security forces around the stadium and on transport routes leading to the national stadium. Armed officers will also be on standby.
Wembley Stadium illuminated
(All images - credit: Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons licence)
