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French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday opened the door to moving the Olympics opening ceremony — currently set to be a boat parade on the River Seine — to a more conventional venue.
“We have fallback scenarios, plan Bs and plan Cs,” Macron said, listing two options: A ceremony “limited” to the Trocadéro area, across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower, or transferring the event to France’s largest sporting venue, the Stade de France.
Traditionally, at past Olympics the opening ceremony has been held in the main stadium but, according to sports daily L’Équipe, the Stade de France option had until this morning not been openly considered in the organizing process.
The proposed Seine opening ceremony has already been downscaled significantly due to security concerns. Plans for an opening ceremony which could welcome up to 600,000 people were scrapped in favor of an invite-only format with around 300,000 spectators.
France raised its terror alert warning to the highest level after the attack on a concert hall in Moscow last month, indicating that authorities believe an attack could be imminent. Security for a Champions League football match last week in Paris was “considerably” reinforced after a threat from the Islamic State group.
“Our country has been hit by terrorism, and what the terrorists want is to stop us from dreaming. We are organizing and resisting,” Macron said, stressing that the opening ceremony along the Seine was still the favored option.
“There’s no naiveté, law enforcement is mobilized at an exceptional level,” he said, adding that the July 26 ceremony will “show France at its best.”
