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Beefed-up security during Norway Cup

Oslo. Beefed-up security during Norway Cup.Photo: Vegard Wivestad Grøtt / NTB scanpix

When the Norway Cup kicks off with approximately 30,000 football players participating on Saturday, there will be a greater number of security measures taken than previously.

 

‘We’ve implemented the measures as we feel it’s necessary to safeguard the safety of the crowd, and the players,during the event,’ said police chief, Ole Jacob Smerud, of Oslo Police District to NTB news agency.

Several new measures

‘Some of the measures have been implemented to prevent vehicles entering the event area. But I don’t want to go into what actions have been taken’, explained Smerud.


Armed Police

Armed police will be present during the football tournament, which only happened once before, in 2014.


‘You will see that all uniformed police officers are armed at Ekebergsletta. It will be the same with police in the whole of Oslo as well. Norway Cup has pitches throughout the capital area’, says Smerud.


Also, former brigadier of Oslo, fire and rescue team, Lars Grimsgård, has been hired as a fire safety officer.


Smerud emphasised that the measures are about the overall threat assessment that the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) arrived at in April, and that there is no indication that greater threats at the event are addressed by the heavier security.


One of the safest areas

A total of 30,000 participants from 52 nations, distributed among 1,909 teams, will participate in the event from Saturday the 29th of July to Saturday the 5th of August. It’s a slight decline in the number of participants from last year, but still the second
largest number over the years the Norway Cup has been held, according to the Nrway Cup Secretary General, Tony Isaksen.


‘We have great faith in the police and what they do. We also consider that this year, Ekebergsletta will be one of the safest areas of the city in week 31, and I think it is more important than ever to have an open event’, said Isaksen.


Besides that security being sharpened, for the first time, the event will also be spruced up in more environmentally friendly ways.


‘We will receive a power supply to the entire site, and we’ve got rid of all aggregates and CO2. We’ve totalled a calculation of cutting 40,000 kilos of CO2,’ he said.


‘Then, everyone is most welcome!’ concluded Tony Isaksen.

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today