On Friday night, a number of explosions near the Stade de France could be heard by players and fans alike, but with precious little information available as to what was happening, the friendly game between France and Germany continued.
Television stations in both countries broadcast the images of players looking confused; they, like some in the crowd, were aware that the noise was not one that can usually be heard at a football match.
One of images of Paris attacks will be France LB Patrice Evra looking toward sound of SdF suicide bomb as he passed. https://t.co/UUiL2LaM5a
— Paul Kennedy (@pkedit) November 14, 2015
Prize-winning author and Financial Times columnist Simon Kuper was at the match, and he spoke to Off The Ball on Sunday about what the mood was like as the news of the attacks in Paris began to spread around the stadium.
It was a slow process, as many fans thought that it was a mere firework, but Kuper immediately turned to social media, as he felt something was gravely wrong: "I felt this was a bomb because I've been sitting in stadiums for 14 years expecting this [...] it's the most obvious thing for terrorists to do because the most watched TV programmes are sports matches, and as a terrorist you want to make prime time".
Kuper believes the plan was for the three suicide bombers to get into the game, sit in the crowd, blow themselves up in the stadium killing lots of people, and causing a mass stampede for the exits, killing even more, "and that would have all been on primetime TV in France and Germany," he added.
The news was slow to spread but by the time the final whistle went, Kuper stated that he saw that nearly a quarter of the people in the stadium had left. "It was only after the final whistle that you saw that people were really afraid," said Kuper as the news began to get out.
With his children at home and his wife also out, Kuper's attention turned to his family, and he became emotional as he spoke with Joe Molloy about how he tried to deal with the situation: "I didn't want to race back and get shot on the way because I thought they [my children] are safe so I need to be safe".
Speaking about the mood over the last few days since the attacks, Kuper stated that there was a sense of normality returning as people took to the streets again: "I don't know if people are making conscious decisions about defying the terrorists, I just think Paris is about being outside".
Next year France will host the European Championship, and there has already been an official denial that these attacks would force it to be cancelled. Kuper agreed with that view, stating "I think it will go ahead, but I think it will be an armed camp and it will detract from the pleasure of it".
You can listen to the full interview below:
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