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France beefs up security ahead of Euro 2016 final

Officials say police will patrol Stade de France stadium and fan zones in central Paris but rule out a victory parade if France win.

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

More than 5,000 French police will be deployed at key venues in and around Paris ahead of the Euro 2016 football final between France and Portugal, reports the BBC.

Officials say the police will patrol the Stade de France stadium as well as the Fan Zone near the Eiffel Tower and the Champs Elysées boulevard.

But there will be no victory parade if France win, the officials warned.

Police and the army have been patrolling Paris since last November's attacks in which 130 people died.

Jihadist gunmen and suicide bombers attacked a number of venues, including the Stade de France.

French officials say about 1,900 police officers will patrol the Fan Zone, while another 3,400 will be deployed at the Champs Elysees - some of them will be moved from the stadium, just north of Paris, after the final kicks off at 21:00 local time (19:00 GMT).

"We have the extremely favourable ratio of one officer for fewer than 50 spectators. So it is an extremely high standard," said Mathias Vicherat, the Paris mayor's chief of staff.

Read more of this report from the BBC.