Championship Hosts Equipped to Deal with Terror

Just as it is impossible to predict where and when rival sets of soccer hooligans will clash, it is also impossible to say whether such an international event as the European Championships in Portugal will be the target for a terrorist attack. But just as the Portuguese authorities have been preparing for confrontations between rival supporters, security procedures regarding a possible terror threat have also been increased ahead of the soccer showpiece.

According to Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso Portugal is equipped to face a possible terrorist attack when it hosts the three-week finals in June. "No responsible government can say that a terrorist attack will not take place. On the contrary, today any responsible government knows that these threats exist," he told reporters following a meeting with Portugal's President Jorge Sampaio and the chiefs of the country's security and military forces.

"What I can responsibly say is that today we have means at our disposal which we never had before and we are determined to provide security as never before."

Budget increased for security

Portugal has already cancelled all police leave during the tournament, hired new officers and spent €16.5 million ($19.8 million) on new police equipment, including the country's first water cannon vehicles, to prepare for the possibility of fan violence at the finals.

But concern has been growing in Portugal after the March 11 commuter train bombings in neighboring Spain which killed 191 people. Since then, the focus has moved away from the containment of hooligan elements towards combating the risk of a terrorist strike.

Passport introductions and NATO help

With the Madrid bombings still fresh in the mind, the authorities in Lisbon have decided to temporarily reintroduce passport controls with other European nations before the start of the tournament and have asked NATO for radar surveillance planes to help bolster security during the event.

The concern is also shared throughout the global community as supporters and visitors from all over the world prepare to head for Portugal for the soccer showcase. At least half a million people are expected to travel to Portugal for Euro 2004, in addition to the usual 1.4 million tourists who visit the country each June.

Earlier in May, the U.S. State Department warned its citizens about the possibility of terrorist attacks and hooliganism at Euro 2004. The State Department later added that the warning was not in response to any intelligence that suggested a strike was imminent at the 16-nation tournament, one of the world's largest sporting events.