<
>

Madrid to tighten Clasico security at Bernabeu after Paris attacks

Security is to be tightened at Saturday's game between Real Madrid and Barcelona in the wake of the attacks in Paris.

At least 129 people were killed in six attacks in the French capital on Friday, with two explosions going off outside the Stade de France, and one attacker reportedly denied access to the stadium by security.

Spain's friendly in Belgium, scheduled for Tuesday evening, was then called off after a request from the Belgian authorities.

Amid concerns that high-profile sporting events remain a target, Community of Madrid government delegate Concepcion Dancausa has told AS that security checks at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu for this weekend's La Liga clash will be stepped up.

"We'll have to look inside the sandwiches [to make sure everything is safe]," the politician said. "Logically we will take all the necessary measures and, as is logical, we will take into account what happened in France, and reinforce some of the measures in some ways.

"All games like this are always declared 'high risk.' [Now] it's about doing the same as usual, but with a tighter control. The vigilance as the fans enter and leave the stadium will be more exhaustive."

La Liga president Javier Tebas has told AS that more than half a billion viewers were likely to watch the match on television on Saturday evening.

"It is difficult to say for sure as we're talking about potential," Tebas said. "It would get more than 500 million viewers, between 500 and 600 million would be my rough estimate."

Tebas is currently working to promote La Liga, and look to increase its global broadcasting revenues, with Gaizka Mendieta, Christian Karembeu and Ismael Urzaiz among the former players attending events in Miami, Shanghai, Dubai and Lebanon highlighting Saturday's game.

The idea of playing La Liga matches overseas has previously been floated, but the former lawyer said the Clasico would not be included in any such expansion plan.

"El Clasico will never be played outside of Spain," Tebas said. "It's a key game in our league competition and has huge international prestige. We'll study the possibility of playing certain games outside of Spain but at present this doesn't form part of our international expansion plans."