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'All necessary steps' Security remains FIFA meeting's top talking pointPosted: Thursday November 29, 2001 11:54 AM
BUSAN, South Korea (AP) -- Debate over security at the 2002 World Cup will spill into a second day at FIFA meetings here, with FIFA's committee for security on Thursday deferring major items of discussion to Friday's executive board meeting. Soccer's world governing body is holding closed-door meetings in this southern Korean port city in the lead up to Saturday's final draw for the World Cup. After meetings with local organizing committees Wednesday to determine seedings for the quadrennial tournament, FIFA has turned its focus back to security, which has become a top priority since the Sept. 11 terror attacks on New York and Washington. FIFA president Sepp Blatter said the May 31-June 30 World Cup, being jointly hosted by South Korea and Japan, was not the first held against a background of difficult security circumstances. He said he was confident the sport's showpiece would go ahead successfully and as planned. FIFA is holding a security workshop with domestic and international experts on Dec. 2, bringing the seminar forward from its original date in February. Constant reviews and weekly meetings between organizers and government and security agencies will follow the seminar, officials said. Michel Zen-Ruffinen, FIFA's general secretary, said the governments of Japan and South Korea had offered full support and would provide the highest level of security available. Zen-Ruffinen reiterated that he expected the next World Cup to be the safest ever staged, adding that the security focus had switched from hooliganism to terrorism since the Sept. 11 attacks. "We do not expect football and the FIFA World Cup to be the target of terrorists, but nevertheless we are taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety of players, fans and officials," Zen-Ruffinen has said. Security has intensified in Busan and at major airports in South Korea in the days leading up to the draw. South Korea's national security agency plans to deploy almost 2,000 police and guards at key points, including accredited hotels and at the BEXCO convention center, venue for the draw. Special anti-terror forces will also be on standby. Armed soldiers patrol the Incheon International Airport near Seoul and the Kimhae Airport at Busan, South Korea's second largest city. Korean organizers have already introduced security measures to combat terrorism and hooliganism during the World Cup, including the establishment of no-fly zones over all 10 World Cup stadiums in South Korea.
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