French police arrest man for planned attack on Olympic football stadium

The French Interior Minister said on Friday that security authorities had foiled a plan to attack football events during the Olympic Games in Paris.

Gerald Darmanin said in a statement that members of the General Directorate for Internal Security arrested an 18-year-old man from Chechnya (Russia) on May 22. He is accused of being behind a plan to attack football events in the city of Saint-Étienne, southwest of Lyon.

According to initial investigations, the man was preparing an attack on the Geoffroy Guichard Stadium, where several football matches will be played during the Summer Games. The planned attack was directed against spectators and police forces, the statement said. The suspect wanted to attack the Olympic events “in order to die and become a martyr,” the statement continued.

The Paris Olympic Games will take place from July 26 to August 11. Before the final at the Stade de France in Paris, football matches will be held in cities across France.