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Upon recommendation from the Belgian government, Tuesday’s game between Belgium and Spain has been suspended. This comes four days after Friday’s France-Germany friendly was interrpupted by terrorist attacks. Both teams spent Friday night inside Stade de France for security reasons.
France has identified the mastermind of Friday’s attacks to be Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a 27-year old man from Belgium. His whereabouts are currently unknown. Another man, Salah Abdeslam, is one of three Belgian brothers involved in Friday’s attacks and is also on the run.
The cancellation raises questions about security concerns in other high-profile European soccer matches. France’s match against England at Wembley Stadium has not been suspended. UEFA has also released a statement that EURO 2016, in which France is the host nation, will not be suspended or postponed.
The Belgian Football Association posted on their website earlier today, releasing a statement about their decision. Here’s an excerpt:
“We deeply regret that such a friendly match between two motivated teams has been cancelled so late and we understand the disappointment of many supporters.
However, taking into account the exceptional circumstances, we cannot take any security risk with players and fans. Ticket holders will get more information about tickets in the course of this week.”