England vs France: French determined to play at Wembley despite Paris attack

Uefa also insist that Euro 16 finals in France in June will go ahead despite atrocities

France will play England at Wembley Stadium on Saturday (Getty Images)

France have told the Football Association that they want to fulfil their friendly fixture against England at Wembley on Tuesday night as a way of demonstrating that life goes on and that the nation will not be cowed by the terrorist outrages which have claimed at least 128 lives.

As Uefa last night indicated it has no intentions of allowing terrorists to force the abandonment of the Euro 2016 tournament on French soil, it became clear that the Didier Deschamps’ players actively want to play the friendly in London. The FA contacted the France Football Federation president Noel Le Graet in the immediate aftermath of England’s match against Spain on Friday night to make it clear that would have been happy with any course of action they wished for, after events in Paris. They indicated their intentions when FA chief executive Martin Glenn re-established contact yesterday lunchtime.

Though the Metropolitan Police are likely to deploy additional resources for the 8pm kick-off and adopt a high-visibility presence, there is understood to be no intelligence suggesting a specific threat to the game. Both the British and French governments, as well as the Met, are unanimous that the game should go ahead if Deschamps’ players wish. The FA, who cancelled the England Under-20 game planned for Nantes yesterday and brought the players home, will seek guidance from Uefa, the UK government and police before proceeding with plans to send Glenn, the FA chairman, Greg Dyke, and manager, Roy Hodgson, to the draw for France’s 2016 European Championship finals, which is scheduled for 12 December at Stade de France, which was shaken by explosions during Friday’s outrages.

The FA’s head of security, Tony Conniford – who was with the Met for 30 years – will oversee the proposed trip next month and also begin work on what additional safeguards are required to ensure the protection of staff and players at the 2016 Championship, which start on 10 June.

It goes without saying that there were never any financial or contractual considerations about Tuesday’s game going ahead.

Euro 2016 president Jacques Lambert said that to cancel Euro 2016 would be do the work of terrorists. “The level of risk increased in January [with the Charlie Hebdo attacks] and has again gone up,” he toldL’Equipe. “There’s no reason to relax the plan to deal with terrorism between now and Euro 2016.”

The FA will begin work immediately in liaising with fans’ groups to provide security advice. A total of 57,000 tickets for Tuesday’s game have been sold, with a further 14,000 available as of last night.

Hodgson said last night: “The FFF has informed us they would still like to play the fixture. We respect that decision and will prepare accordingly – both on and off the pitch.

“The match will be a serious occasion, but one that shows that the football world is united against these atrocities.

“I’m 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.”