The Islamic State terror cell that was responsible for the attacks in Paris and Brussels was planning to strike the 2016 European football championship, reported The Guardian quoting French newspaper Libération. The tournament is to be played across France for a month, starting June 10. However, the police said the information is not new to them as they had anticipated such attacks during the tournament, and were prepared for the worst.

IS militant Mohamed Abrini, who was arrested on Friday for his role in the Brussels airport attack, told the investigators that the outfit never wanted to attack Brussels. He revealed that the Brussels attack was a spontaneous reaction on their part when they learnt that Salah Abdeslam, one of the Paris attackers, was arrested. When they found out that Abdeslam was cooperating with the police, they changed their target and brought the plan forward fearing that the cell might get busted soon.

The 31-year-old Abrini admitted that he was the man in the hat caught on CCTV leaving a bag of explosives at the Brussels airport on the fateful day. He is also a key suspect in the Paris attacks case. The terror attacks in Belgium took place only three days after Abdeslam's arrest. It left 32 people dead and several injured on March 22.