Association football or soccer is one of the most widely attended sports across the globe. Even the teams that play in lower leagues garner thousands in attendance week in and week out. So for games as big as those held in the European Championships, security measures need to be extremely tight.
Just last month, a Frenchman identified as Gregoire Moutaux was detained along the Ukranian border along Poland. The 25 year old was arrested for carrying a large cache of arms, although it was unknown at the time what he was planning to use these for. French security personnel have said that they do not evidence to either prove or disprove threats of a terrorist attack.
Moutaux's ultranationalist views could make the Euro 2016 football tournament a possible target. There will be 24 national teams competing in the tournament hosted by France. The Frenchman had planned 15 attacks with bridges, motorways, and religious structures as possible targets, according to BBC News.
Ukrainian security personnel have confiscated multiple guns, 2 rocket-propelled anti-tank grenades, 5,000 rounds of ammunition, 100 detonators, and 125 kilos of explosives, says The Guardian. According to intelligence chief Vasyl Hrystak, Moutaux has ties to different arm smuggling and terrorist organizations.
Moutaux was reportedly being watched for months before he was caught in this sting operation. "The operation lasted almost six months during which we documented every one of his acts and movements... we stumbled across an organization in France that is unhappy with those in power and was planning to organize a series of attacks during the Euro," Hrystak said.
A YouTube video posted by Ukranian security shows a man loading a white van with what seems to be the aforementioned arms. Moments later, he is dragged out and detained by security personnel. The border post where this incident happened is actually described as one of the most corrupt and is particularly popular with cigarette smugglers.
