Around 800 people who “did not have good intentions” have been excluded from the Paris Olympics over security fears, Gérald Darmanin, the French interior minister, has said, reports The Telegraph.
The list includes 15 people deemed to represent the most serious threat to national security.
“The French people must know that we absolutely check everyone who approaches the Olympic Games – so there are the volunteers, torch bearers, the people who will welcome you,” Mr Darmanin told broadcaster LCI.
“There are a million checks to be done; we have already carried out 180,000 checks. We have excluded 800 people including 15 on ‘Fiches S’ [the dossier of the most serious threats],” he said.
“That means that there are people who wanted to register to carry the flame, to be volunteers at the Olympic Games and who clearly did not have good intentions.”