Belgium friendly with Spain called off due to heightened terror threat

[Muslera]

Belgium friendly with Spain called off due to heightened terror threat

• Match called off in wake of Paris attacks
  
• Belgian suspect Salah Abdeslam still on the run

Staff and agencies
Tuesday 17 November 2015 00.06 GMT
Last modified on Tuesday 17 November 2015 00.40 GMT

Spain players train in Belgium prior to their friendly being called off on Monday night. Photograph: Reuters

Belgium’s friendly against Spain in Brussels has been “postponed” due to the increased terrorist threat, the Belgian FA announced on Monday night.

The world’s No1 ranked team was set to host the reigning European champions on Tuesday but after the Paris attacks – in which some of the suspects came from Belgium – the threat level has been raised from two to three (out of a maximum of four) and it was reported that the Ministry of the Interior’s Crisis Centre ordered the match to be cancelled.

Twenty-six-year-old Salah Abdeslam, one of three Belgium-based brothers allegedly involved in the attacks, is still on the run. Salah Abdeslam was the man who rented a Belgian-registered VW Polo that was parked outside the Bataclan concert hall where 89 people died.

One of his brothers, 31-year-old Ibrahim Abdeslam, blew himself up in the attack on the rue de Voltaire near the concert hall.

Another Abdeslam brother, as yet unnamed by authorities, has been arrested in Belgium.

A statement on the Belgian Football Association website later gave more detail about the cancellation of the match, which was due to take place at Stade Roi Baudouin.

It read: “In consultation with the competent authorities and the Spanish national team, the Belgian FA has decided to cancel the match.

“At the very end of the evening the Belgian FA was contacted by the government, who made the recommendation not to play tomorrow’s match. This is because the terror alert level is high and with the current leakage of a suspicious person.

“We deeply regret that such a friendly match between two motivated teams has been cancelled so late and we understand the disappointment of many supporters.

“However, taking into account the exceptional circumstances, we cannot take any security risk with players and fans.

“Ticket holders will get more information about tickets in the course of this week.”