‘No Plan B' for Paris Opening Ceremony after Knife Attack

This long exposure photograph taken on December 2, 2023, shows a general view of the Eiffel tower in central Paris. (Photo by MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP)
This long exposure photograph taken on December 2, 2023, shows a general view of the Eiffel tower in central Paris. (Photo by MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP)
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‘No Plan B' for Paris Opening Ceremony after Knife Attack

This long exposure photograph taken on December 2, 2023, shows a general view of the Eiffel tower in central Paris. (Photo by MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP)
This long exposure photograph taken on December 2, 2023, shows a general view of the Eiffel tower in central Paris. (Photo by MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP)

There is no "plan B" for the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games, the French sports minister said on Monday, after a man armed with a knife and hammer killed a German tourist and left two people wounded near the Eiffel Tower on Saturday.
"We have no plan B, we have a plan in which there are several sub-plans with a certain number of adjustment variables," Amelie Oudea-Castera told France Inter radio.
The 26-year-old suspect, a French national arrested after the attack, had pledged allegiance to ISIS in a video recorded beforehand, anti-terrorism Prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard said on Sunday.
The attack occurred on the Quai de Grenelle - a spot also included in the plans for the opening ceremony.
Asked if the government was mulling a change to its plan to hold the ceremony on the River Seine, with several hundred thousand spectators expected along its banks amid the security threats, the minister said: "This not something we're working with."
"We have the capacity to secure the event", she said, adding that certain details, including the number of additional cultural events surrounding the main spectacle and said the security perimeter would be adjusted closer to the Games.



Premier League Rejects City Request to Delay Next Season’s Games after Club World Cup

Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Manchester City - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - September 28, 2024 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola reacts. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Manchester City - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - September 28, 2024 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola reacts. (Reuters)
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Premier League Rejects City Request to Delay Next Season’s Games after Club World Cup

Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Manchester City - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - September 28, 2024 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola reacts. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Manchester City - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - September 28, 2024 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola reacts. (Reuters)

The Premier League has rejected Manchester City's request to postpone the first two games of the 2025-26 season to help the players recover after their FIFA Club World Cup campaign in the US, the club's manager Pep Guardiola said on Friday.

City and Chelsea are the two English clubs who have qualified for the expanded month-long Club World Cup set to start on June 15. The Premier League's season will begin in August.

An increasingly packed football calendar has been a concern among a growing number of players and managers. A report by global players' union FIFPRO said some players get only 12% of the year to rest.

The Premier League did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.

City midfielder Rodri said in September that players could be close to strike action over the time they are required to play. A knee ligament injury has since put him out for the season.

"I don’t know if we will play more games than the treble year (2022-23)... maybe we'll play less games," Guardiola told reporters.

"The Premier League has not allowed us to postpone the first two games for our recovery. Thank you so much. They don't postpone these games so that will be the moment of, oh, what do we have to do?"

He said the Club World Cup will make it even more difficult for clubs to manage player workload.