Security beefed up for Wembley FA Cup final

MAJOR sports venues from Wembley to Headingley will beef up security after a suicide attack at a pop concert in Manchester killed 22 people including children.

There are several high-profile sports events in Britain in the coming weeks, including the FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday, although there is no specific threat.

The Islamic State extremist group claimed responsibility for the bomb attack at the end of a concert by US pop star Ariana Grande at the Manchester Arena on Monday in Britain’s deadliest terror attack for 12 years.

L o n d o n’s Met r o p o l i t a n Police said that extra armed officers would be deployed for the FA Cup final between Arsenal and Chelsea at Wembley.

The same applies for the English Premiership rugby union final between Exeter and Wasps at Twickenham, the force said.

Golf officials were meeting security experts ahead of this week’s flagship European PGA Championship event at Wentworth, southwest of London, which begins today.

“As with any major event, security is the highest priority,” Keith Pelley, the European Tour chief executive, told reporters at Wentworth.

“It was before last night and it remains so. We’re in constant dialogue with the police and security services.

“We have several meetings later on this afternoon but we are comfortable we will react the right way if in fact we need to significantly increase our security.”

Britain’s Chris Wood, the defending champion of the event, added: “It’s horrible. I have a three-month old[child] now and it hits harder when y o u k n ow c h i l d re n a re involved.

“It’s a very sombre feeling [in the locker room] and golf seems fairly insignificant.”

‘Crack on’

At a hectic time for sport in Britain, next week sees the start of cricket’s Champions Trophy tournament involving the world’s top eight one-day i nt e r nat i onal s i des, wit h matches in London, Birmingham and Cardiff.

The International Cricket Council said it too was looking at tighter security.

“We will continue to work with authorities over the com- ing hours and days and review our security in line with the threat levels,” a statement said.

Before then, hosts England and South Africa are involved in a three-match ODI series which was to start at Headingley, in Leeds, yesterday.

England one-day captain Eoin Morgan said that cricket would not be daunted. “I’m confident that we will crack on,” he said.