DHAKA: French President Francois Hollande has warned against attempts to disrupt Euro 2016 with strike action, on the eve of the football tournament.

France has been in the grip of industrial action, mainly over reforms to labour law, and a train strike could affect Friday's opening match.

Train drivers are threatening to strike on a line serving the Stade de France in St Denis just outside Paris, reports the BBC.

The stadium will host Friday evening’s match between France and Romania.

Football fans arriving in Paris and several other cities this week have been greeted by the sight and smell of uncollected rubbish sacks as trade unionists blockade incinerators.

The country is also on high alert since the jihadist attacks on Paris in November, and is recovering from flood damage in central and northern regions.

Hollande said everyone had a duty to ensure that the competition was allowed to be proceeded without incident.

Sports Minister Thierry Braillard appealed to the unions to think about the football fans.

Zahier, a waiter in a restaurant in the Latin Quarter where rubbish spilled out of bins into the narrow, cobbled streets, said that “Customers are looking out at the dustbins, so obviously it’s making them lose their appetite.”

BDST: 0929 HRS, JUN 10, 2016
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