Euro 2016

Rio Ferdinand: 'Fear will change Euro 2016 atmosphere'

By Simon Sinclair, Reporter | 14 November 2015

Rio Ferdinand believes that the experience of Euro 2016 will be affected as a result of the terror attacks on Paris, which claimed the lives of at least 129 people.

Rio Ferdinand has said that the terror attacks on Paris will change the atmosphere of Euro 2016 in France next year.

A spate of incidents occurred across the French capital as attackers targeted restaurants, bars and a concert hall, as well as the Stade de France, which resulted in the deaths of at least 129 people.

French Football Association president Noel Le Graet revealed that he had concerns over safety issues at the tournament, but Euro 2016 president Jacques Lambert has insisted that the competition will go ahead as planned.

However, Ferdinand believes that the tournament has been changed dramatically by the events that transpired in Paris on Friday night.

He wrote in The Sun: "Next summer France will host the European Championships but it will be a very different tournament. Like it or not, fear will grip some to the point that they simply won't go.

"The intense security that will undoubtedly be needed will take away the freedom and joy that these events bring. I have been to countries where people's way of life is so different to ours.

"They live not knowing what atrocity might hit them next. That feeling was obviously alien to me. But the terrorist attacks that have visited Tunisia, Egypt and now France make us all change our outlook."

Despite the attacks, France's friendly match against England will take place at Wembley on Tuesday.