November 17 – Belgian authorities have called off tonight’s prestige friendly with Spain in Brussels for security reasons after the hosts became the focal point of attention in the wake of the Paris terrorist atrocity.
The Belgian football federation said the decision was taken late Monday on government advice due to the high state of alert.
“After consulting with the relevant bodies and the Spanish national team, the (Belgian FA) decided to cancel the match,” the federation said in a statement. “Right at the end of the evening, the (federation) was contacted by the government which recommended that the Belgium-Spain match should not go ahead tomorrow night.
“It is in the context of a new elevated terrorist alert and the current pursuit of a suspect.”
The match had already been thrown into doubt after investigators identified a Belgian national as the possible mastermind of the attacks that killed 129 people, leading to a number of police raids and a huge manhunt.
The game was set to pit the number one world-ranked Belgians against the two-time defending European champions and the decision to call it off was taken following consultation with Spain.
“We deeply regret that such a friendly match between two motivated teams had to be cancelled so late and we understand the disappointment of numerous fans,” the federation statement added. “However, taking into account these exceptional circumstances, we couldn’t take any risk in the matter of the security of our players and supporters.
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