The NFL confirmed Tuesday that its first-ever regular-season game in France will proceed as scheduled, with league officials saying they remain confident in security arrangements despite days of civil unrest that have rattled the country.
Peter O’Reilly, the NFL’s executive vice president for Club Business and International, said the league is tracking the situation closely as it finalizes preparations for the matchup.
“[We’re] obviously being very vigilant in everything we do and all of our planning on an hour-by-hour basis, working closely with our two teams,” O’Reilly said Tuesday. “We’ve got confidence in the plans both from an ops and security standpoint.”
The unrest has included burned cars and looted stores in central Paris, located less than 20 miles from the game site. O’Reilly acknowledged the league maintains contingency plans for every game it stages, including the option to relocate or postpone, but said those measures are not under serious consideration for Sunday’s contest.
“We have never been close to that point,” O’Reilly said. “As you know, we’ve always got contingency plans for every game, every single one of them. But no, we were not at that point at any point in the conversation.”
The game is expected to draw roughly 81,000 fans, along with two full NFL teams, politicians and other attendees. O’Reilly said the league’s confidence stems from groundwork already laid at the venue, Stade de France, which recently hosted the Olympic Games.
“Our team’s been on the ground, security team’s been on the ground, and obviously, working in close partnership with Stade de France, which is a world class stadium, hosted world class events, most recently the Olympic Games,” O’Reilly said.
He added that security presence will be increased in coordination with French authorities ahead of the game.
“That presence will be heightened with local authorities making sure that there’s nothing more important from our standpoint than the team security, the fans’ security, everybody involved with this game,” O’Reilly said. “So extremely vigilant as we always are. As I said, confident in all of those plans as we head towards Sunday.”
The league has not announced any changes to the schedule or venue as of Tuesday.
