NFL Says Paris Game Is On, Promises Heightened Security for Sunday's Steelers-Saints Matchup

Since civil unrest engulfed Paris and other French cities over the weekend, the NFL has said little publicly about its first regular-season game in France. On Tuesday, that changed. The league said the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints will play Sunday at Stade de France as scheduled.

What the NFL said

Peter O'Reilly, the league's executive vice president of club business, international and league events, spoke at the Fall League Meeting. "All of our plans for the Paris game this weekend are moving forward as planned," he said.

O'Reilly said the league is monitoring conditions "on an hour-by-hour basis" with both teams. "We've got confidence in the plans, both from an ops and a security standpoint," he said.

He said NFL operational and security personnel have been in Paris for around 10 days. League officials on the ground include Cathy Lanier, the league's senior vice president of security. They are working with Parisian and national French authorities and the U.S. State Department.

O'Reilly said security around the game "will be heightened with local authorities." He said the league's plans rest on its partnership with Stade de France, which hosted the Olympic Games most recently.

Contingency plans

The league has contingency plans for every game, including moving it to another location or postponing it. O'Reilly said this one never reached that stage. "We have never been close to that point," he said.

He also addressed a concern the NFL has acted on before. The league has moved games in the past to avoid getting in the way of a local response to an unforeseen event. "We feel confident that we would not have any impact on the broader resources needed," O'Reilly said.

He pointed to other events going on in the city. One was Tuesday night's Champions League match between Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona.

The unrest behind the questions

The Associated Press described the violence as France's worst civil unrest in years. Rioters clashed with police, set cars on fire, stormed public buildings and engulfed a historic city hall in flames. Authorities said thousands of businesses were damaged or looted.

Arrest figures differ by source. The AP put the weekend total at about 2,400. CBS News reported at least 1,800 arrests, and Paris police said 855 of those were in the capital region.

The riots overshadowed demonstrations against rising living costs and poor conditions in schools. Hundreds of thousands of people marched peacefully, according to the AP. One report said Paris and Lyon have already imposed curfews.

Looting and damage were reported around Place de la République. That square is about five miles from Stade de France, which sits in Saint-Denis on the outskirts of Paris.

Teams and travel

The Saints traveled directly to Paris after Sunday's game against the New York Giants. They are practicing in the area this week. The Steelers are due to arrive later in the week, closer to kickoff.

Steelers coach Mike McCarthy said Monday he is "obviously very aware" of the unrest and has been in touch with the league. "We feel like we have a really good plan," McCarthy said. "We're aware of the situations over there and have a lot of confidence in our plan."

The stadium is expected to hold roughly 81,000 fans. Radio host Craig Carton has asked publicly whether Commissioner Roger Goodell will attend given the unrest.

Bigger plans for overseas games

O'Reilly said the league is considering 10 international games next season, the maximum under the collective bargaining agreement. A record nine are scheduled this year. Locations are still under discussion.

"We like continuity, but we are looking at new regions, and Asia would be one of them," O'Reilly said.

For now, the focus is Sunday. The Steelers still have to make the trip, and the league's hour-by-hour monitoring will continue until kickoff. O'Reilly said there was never a point when the game was in danger of not being played at Stade de France.