NEW YORK — The NFL is tightening security for Sunday’s Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints game outside Paris, league officials said Tuesday, after rioting swept French cities over the weekend.
Peter O’Reilly, the league executive who oversees international events, said at the fall owners meeting that the NFL is working with Paris and national French authorities as well as the U.S. State Department. Senior security staff from the league have been in France, he said, and the game at Stade de France in Saint-Denis was never at risk of being moved or called off.
He pointed to other big events going on in the city, including a Champions League match Tuesday night, and said league officials are confident the game will not pull police and emergency resources away from the wider response.
The unrest grew out of protests over the cost of living and school conditions. Rioters burned cars, clashed with police and set fire to a historic city hall, and police made about 2,400 arrests across the weekend, with thousands of businesses damaged or looted.
The league had already said Sunday that plans were on schedule, that it was coordinating with local officials on operations and safety, and that no league sites had been affected. The Saints flew straight to France after winning at the New York Giants and are practicing there this week. Pittsburgh, 4-2 and tied for the AFC North lead after an overtime win over Tampa Bay, plans to leave Thursday and returns home to face Cleveland on Nov. 1.
The game is the first regular-season NFL game in France and one of a record nine international games this season. O’Reilly said the league is weighing a 10th for next year, with Asia among the regions under consideration.
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