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Full France squad to fly to London for England friendly at Wembley Full France squad to fly to London for England friendly at Wembley
(about 4 hours later)
All 23 members of the France squad, including Lassana Diarra and Antoine Griezmann, will fly to England for Tuesday’s friendly at Wembley as the British Home Secretaty Theresa May said the match will go ahead as a sign that “the terrorists will not win”. The full France squad, with the bereaved Lassana Diarra in their number, will travel to London on Monday before the friendly against England at Wembley united in defiance in the aftermath of the terrorist atrocities in Paris.
Diarra’s cousin Asta Diakite was one of the 129 people who died in the Paris terror attacks on Friday. Diarra lost his cousin Asta Diakité among the more than 130 people killed in Friday’s attacks across the French capital while the former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder was playing for his country at the Stade de France. The venue was targeted by suicide bombers, with three bombs detonated outside the arena. It has since emerged the sister of another member of Didier Deschamps’ 23-man squad, Antoine Griezmann, escaped unhurt from the Bataclan theatre where at least 89 people were killed.
Griezmann’s sister managed to escape the Bataclan theatre, where 89 people were killed when it was stormed by terrorists. The France squad, who returned to Clairefontaine at around 4am on Saturday morning and trained behind closed doors over the weekend, were not consulted by the France Football Federation over whether Tuesday’s friendly at Wembley should proceed. However, with some in the party having indicated in private their concern at playing the match, there was an acknowledgement any players who felt they could not travel to London would be permitted to drop out.
As it is, Diarra and Griezmann, who each played in Friday’s 2-0 win over Germany, have opted to take a stand in a game Theresa May has stressed should go ahead as a sign “the terrorists will not win”.
There will be heightened security at Wembley, with supporters urged to arrive earlier than usual given stringent searches and a more visible police presence than usual. The FA has been in lengthy discussions with the government and Metropolitan police over the weekend and, while there is no specific intelligence to suggest this game is under any greater threat, they are taking prudent and appropriate measures to reassure fans in what is expected to be a crowd in excess of 70,000.
“It is the intention that the match will still go ahead,” said May after the home secretary had chaired a meeting of the government’s emergency committee on Sunday. “We are in absolute solidarity with the people of France and, together, we need to show that the terrorists will not win and we will defeat them.”
To that end, England’s players have also spoken to the FA about paying their own tribute before the kick-off. Nine of Deschamps’ squad play at English clubs, and another four have played in the Premier League.
Their sentiment has been shared by supporters: the words to La Marseillaise will be displayed within Wembley for home fans to sing during the anthems. The Wembley arch will be lit up in the red, white and blue of the French tricolour – as it has been since Friday – while screens outside the arena will display the French motto “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité”.
There have been calls, too, for the FA to make the game “a symbol of friendship and fraternity” by donating profits to charity, with more than 14,000 signatures already added to an online petition for proceeds to be given to the French Red Cross and Médécins sans Frontières.
While the occasion will inevitably be emotionally charged, Jacques Lambert, the head of the organising committee for Euro 2016 to be staged in France, has called for “calm heads” as he, the FFF president, Noel le Graet, Uefa and the French government prepare to work further on security issues before next summer’s tournament.
The finals will have 24 teams playing across 10 venues, with stadiums, training camps and team hotels technically falling under the responsibility of the tournament organisers and, under an agreement struck in September, the state assuring security around those locations.
“We all need to assess and decide over the coming weeks what is best for the safety of spectators at the Euros,” said Lambert. “We have worked for three years on safety measures with the Interior Ministry and the prefectures in each of the host cities. We have not finished the job, but we still have seven months to refine, tweak, adjust. It is obvious that lessons are being learned and will be drawn from what has happened in Paris. There will be additional and different things planned. Security is the major challenge in organising this event.”
Germany’s players, who had remained at the Stade de France on Friday night, will play Holland as planned on Tuesday in Hanover with Angela Merkel in attendance along with the interior minister, Thomas de Maiziere. “The message is clear: we will not be intimidated by terror,” said the interim German football association (DFB) president, Reinhard Rauball. “For the team to play against the Dutch only a few days after the terrible experiences in Paris is a necessary signal.”
Russia, who will play a friendly against France in Paris next March, have indicated they are not seeking a change in venue though the sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, has indicated security at their own stadiums will be “beefed up”.
Related: Wembley to welcome France for England friendly in spirit of defiance | Barney RonayRelated: Wembley to welcome France for England friendly in spirit of defiance | Barney Ronay
Both were playing in France’s friendly win over Germany at the Stade de France on Friday, which was also targeted by terrorists, while the attacks took place.
Didier Deschamps offered his players the chance to pull out if they did not feel up to it. But despite being directly affected by the attacks, both have remained and will fly to England, according to the team media officer Philippe Tournon. “All the players are coming,” he said.
Suicide bombers targeted the area around Stade de France as part of the terror rampage in Paris while the French team was playing Germany, with the president Francois Hollande amid the thousands in the crowd.
Speaking after chairing a meeting of the Government’s Cobra emergency committee, the Home Secretary said: “It is the intention that the France-England match will still go ahead.
“We are in absolute solidarity with the people of France and together we need to show that the terrorists will not win and we will defeat them.”
The England manager Roy Hodgson has urged fans to show their support for their French counterparts at the game. “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,” he said.
Extra police are likely to be drafted in for the match and it is understood the FA will be enhancing its security and search procedures for fans entering the stadium.
France will hold a press conference at Wembley on Monday before taking part in a training session at the stadium.
The France coach and his players were shocked when they saw footage of the attacks being shown on television following the win over Germany in Paris.
The FA would have cancelled the friendly at Wembley if its French counterparts had felt it was not be appropriate to play the match but the French federation said it should go ahead. Wembley’s arch will be lit up in the red, white and blue of the French flag to show solidarity.
Screens will show the motto “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité” outside the ground and before kick-off the words of La Marseillaise will be shown to help any England fans who want to join in. Fans have been urged to get to Wembley early as there will be increased security checks.
Germany’s friendly against the Netherlands on Tuesday will go ahead as planned, despite the German team still being shaken by the deadly attacks in Paris, the world champions said on Sunday.
Germany were playing France in Paris on Friday as a wave of attacks was unleashed across the city, killing 129 people.
“The message is clear. We will not be intimidated by terror,” said the interim German FA (DFB) chief Reinhard Rauball in a statement, following a meeting to decide whether the game in Hanover would go ahead.
“For the team to play against the Dutch only a few days after the terrible experiences in Paris is a necessary signal.”
The Germany players and staff had spent Friday night holed up inside the stadium before leaving straight for the airport on Saturday morning.
“The entire team, players coaches and staff are still shocked,” the team manager Oliver Bierhoff said in the statement. “But we all know how important it is to send a signal as a national team in favour of our values and culture.”
Lower Saxony’s minister for sport Boris Pistorius said every precaution would be taken by security staff to ensure it was a peaceful event where families, who bought tickets weeks ago, could feel comfortable.
“I welcome the decision by the DFB to play the game after discussions with Lower Saxony security officials. There are no reasons that would force us to cancel the game,” Pistorius said in a statement.
“We also want to send a signal that these cowardly terrorists cannot run our lives.”