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'Top priority' security promised for fans at Rugby World Cup 2023
By Liam Heagney
World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin has insisted that security will be a top priority at the upcoming Rugby World Cup, the biggest in the 36-year history of the tournament.
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Approximately 2.5 million tickets have been sold for the event’s 48 matches and more than 600,000 international visitors are expected to travel for the games in September and October – a World Cup record and 50 per cent more than the number of fans that travelled for Japan 2019.
The opening match featuring hosts France and the All Blacks in Paris on September 8 is now just 100 days away and World Rugby bosses have assured that every step will be taken to ensure the tournament passes off safely.
Last year’s Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool at Stade de France – the stadium that will host the RWC 2023 final and an array of other matches – was a fiasco due to serious congestion problems and over-zealous policing.
There have since been widespread protests across France over pension reforms, while last Saturday’s Gallagher Premiership rugby final in England was temporarily halted when Just Stop Oil protestors evaded stewards to throw orange dust onto the pitch at Twickenham.
Gilpin, though, has assured that the Rugby World Cup organisers have been pretty relentless from a safety perspective in taking the necessary steps to ensure that the 2023 finals pass off without a hitch.
“We can absolutely say that rugby fans who are travelling to France and wherever they are going to be at the tournament that their safety – along with the teams and the players – is absolutely the top priority and the French authorities, the French government, and the cities are very much part of that.
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“There are lessons to learn from instances like that what happened at Stade de France in the Champions League final. As you can imagine there has been an enormous amount of debate around that, so we are very confident in those plans.
“But like any time I am talking about security, we are never complacent. There is a huge amount of work and that will absolutely continue for the next 100 days and throughout the tournament. A Rugby World Cup over seven weekends is a long period and 48 matches across nine cities is a big undertaking, so we are pretty relentless about that planning from a safety perspective.”
The overall message that Gilpin delivered 100 days out from the opening match at the 2023 finals was that the organisation of the tournament was in great shape, leaving World Rugby incredibly confident about delivering an event to remember for all the right reasons.
“As we reach this milestone of 100 days to go, we are incredibly confident in relation to delivering a great event,” he enthused. “That is an event that from the start has been planned with teams, players and fans at heart, so we know can deliver in an exceptional host country with wonderful infrastructure a really engaging and compelling tournament for players and teams – which is our priority but also have the fans at the heart of what we are doing.
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“Our message is we are in great shape. Never has a country, has a nation been so excited to host a Rugby World Cup. The levels of engagement are fantastic and never has a country been so ready to host a Rugby World Cup. That is really important. We are anticipating a very special both of rugby and of France as the host. That is particularly poignant as we look to celebrate rugby’s 200th year.
“Fantastic host cities, world-class venues as we know, fantastic training facilities around the country and it is fair to say no stone has been left unturned in preparations which provide us with huge confidence and that is really important as we move into this last phase.
“It will be the most responsible sustainable World Cup to date, with a really impactful programme of social inclusion and environmentally sustainable initiatives, particularly under the Rugby au Coeur banner which we are really excited about. It has been a really important part of the planning of this tournament.
“In terms of the French public, the excitement is building. We know there is a 90 per cent approval rating for the hosting of the tournament in France and overwhelmingly the French population are incredibly positive about the tournament and the impact it will have in the host country.
“The latest research shows that 76 per cent of the French population is either planning to be in a stadium, be at a fan village or enjoy Rugby World Cup via broadcast or online. We know from ticket purchasing that more than 600,000 international fans will be welcome to France, which is a record for any rugby event.
“That is a 50 per cent increase on the 400,000 fans that made their way to Japan in 2019 and the organisers have achieved, will achieve record ticket sales for Rugby World Cup, selling out 2.5m tickets. It has been the hottest ticket to date of any rugby event we have known.”
