Belgium cancels friendly with Spain amid raised terrorism alert

The Belgian football association cancelled a friendly match against Spain scheduled for Tuesday after the government raised the terrorism warning level in the wake of the Paris attacks, a news report said.

The government had recommended the game be cancelled, according to news agency Belga, quoting Belgium’s football association. About 50,000 fans were expected to watch the sold-out friendly in the Stadion Roi Baudouin in Brussels.

The football association said it regretted that the game was cancelled on such short notice.

The overnight decision came after the government raised its terror warning level to 3 on a scale of 4, meaning that a threat was seen as “possible and likely.”

The terrorism attacks on Friday in Paris included suicide bombings outside the stadium, where a friendly match was under way between Germany and France. The attackers killed at least 129 people, mostly in a concert hall, and injured hundreds.

On Monday, two people were placed under arrest in Brussels on charges of playing a role in a terrorist attack and participating in the activities of a terrorist group.

Belgian authorities are still looking for 26-year-old Frenchman Salah Abdeslam, brother of one of the suicide bombers in Paris. A four-hour large-scale raid in the Muslim-majority Molenbeek neighbourhood was unsuccessful in capturing him.

Source: GNA