Teenager arrested for terrorist plot at Paris Olympics

According to BFMTV, the suspect was unknown to the police and judicial authorities before his arrest and had arrived in France with his parents in 2023.

The suspect was arrested at his home and had already carried out reconnaissance, according to a source close to the investigation. The French anti-terrorism prosecutor's office PNAT indicated that he had been charged on May 26 with the count of association with a terrorist criminal group with a view to preparing crimes against the person. He was then taken into custody. Investigations are now continuing as part of a judicial investigation.

Among the matches to be played at the Saint-Etienne stadium are France against Canada and the United States against Guinea. Morocco will also face Argentina and Ukraine in Saint-Étienne, with Canada taking on New Zealand and Germany taking on Zambia.

News of the arrest follows an admission last month for the first time that the ambitious opening ceremony of the Olympics, due to take place in just eight weeks, could be moved away from the Seine in Paris for security reasons.

More than 10,000 athletes are expected on 6 km of the Seine aboard 160 barges in front of a crowd of some 300,000 people. It would be the first Olympic opening ceremony to take place outside a stadium, but French President Emmanuel Macron revealed there were “plan Bs and plan Cs”. These include limiting the event to the Trocadéro, across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower, or returning to a more traditional ceremony inside the Stade de France.

Current plans call for 45,000 police and security officers to be present in Paris for the opening ceremony – 10 times more than the usual daily number in the French capital – with entry into what will now be a secure “zone” on along the Seine by invitation rather than free access.

“If we have a risk and a doubt, we will not do it,” said Paris 2024 president Tony Estanguet. “For now, we continue. There is a good level of confidence in the security measures in place. We started this project at the beginning of 2016 just after the massive attacks we had in France. At that time, the authorities decided to defend what is important in France. Paris and the public authorities have implemented unprecedented security. Safety is the priority and then, once safety is assured, we work on the artistic.