Terrorist Cricket Attack Prompts World Cup Crisis Talks

A Tuesday terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka cricket team in Pakistan that resulted in eight deaths and seven others wounded has led FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke to call a “crisis evaluation committee” meeting next Tuesday, March 10 in Johannesburg to “discuss taking security to a maximum level” for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

While past security concerns have focused primarily on keeping rival groups of fans from clashing and violence outside stadiums, since the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany security has had to deal with the much bigger threat of the World Cup being an “attractive target” for terrorists, says German police chief Konrad Freiberg.

According to reports, the South African Police Service is already set to spend $640 million on deployment of more than 40,000 officers and $665 million on the procurement of special equipment intended specifically for the event.