“At War” terror threats are on the back of French authorities ahead of the Paris Saint-Germain v Barcelona Champions League quarter-final as a large police force will be deployed at the Parc des Princes this afternoon.

Almost a thousand police officers have been mobilized

According publication of Le Parisien, citing a police source, additional mobile units will be deployed to oversee the sporting event.” According to the same source, police forces will also be deployed in the surrounding areas.

Alongside, the number of patrols will be increased, while drones will also be used. In total, seven mobile force units will be mobilized to ensure security for the PSG-Barça match, while an additional 1,000 police officers will be involved in the operation, a police source told AFP.

“The risk is not zero”

“There is no proven threat to the race, but our attention is at the ready, commented Prisca Thévenot, government spokeswoman, during the press briefing at the end of the Cabinet meeting at noon on Wednesday. The security system is strengthened “in relation to the Vigipirate plan” which raised on March 24 to the maximum “emergency attack” leveltwo days after the attack in Moscow, he added.

Asked about the security issues surrounding the match at, Jean-Charles Brisard, president of the Center for the Analysis of Terrorism, calls on PSG fans to go to the stadium, despite threats from the Islamic State. “Globally, we must never give in to terrorist blackmail, that’s what they want,” he said and assured that “the authorities have taken very specific measures, both in terms of human and technical resources, to deal with this possibility,” while admitting that “the risk is not zero”.