France has foiled plans for an Islamist terrorist attack on a football match during the Paris Olympic Games in July.
An 18-year-old Chechen man was arrested in the eastern city of Saint-Étienne for allegedly planning to carry out an Islamist-motivated attack, the Interior Ministry in Paris announced on Friday.
According to investigators, the man had been actively preparing an attack during one of the Olympic football matches at the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium in Saint-Étienne.
He was planning to target spectators as well as law enforcement officers and wanted to die as an Islamist martyr.
France's Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin thanked terror investigators for their successful manhunt. This was the first plan to attack the Paris Olympics to be foiled and the 50th thwarted by French police since 2017.
The Olympic Games will take place from July 26 to August 11 in Paris and several other French cities. France, plagued with terror attacks since 2015, is currently on the highest terror alert level.
Tens of thousands of police officers will attempt to protect the Olympics.