MILAN, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Italy has rolled out a sweeping security plan for the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics to be coordinated by a single command centre, the International Olympic Operations Room (SOIO).
Based in Rome, the SOIO will operate around the clock from the opening of the Games on Friday and liaise with the international operations room and police headquarters in the northern cities of Bolzano, Milan, Sondrio, Trento, Venice and Verona, police said in a statement.
"Officers from foreign police forces, as well as Interpol and Europol personnel, will be present to ensure timely information-sharing and the management of any critical issues requiring international cooperation," the statement said.
The Games will be one of the most complex security operations Italy has had to manage, with the event split between two main hubs, Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo in the Dolomites, and additional competitions held elsewhere across the mountains of the north.
Around 3,500 athletes are due to take part in the event, which runs from February 6 to 22, with the government expecting some 2 million visitors, including 60,000 for the opening ceremony at Milan's San Siro stadium.
SNIPERS IN PLACE
Police said snipers would also be deployed to oversee security for the Olympics and related events, positioned at elevated points across all designated "red zones" where access is tightly controlled.
In addition, police said they would deploy dog units and bomb disposal teams tasked with securing and protecting Olympic venues, including by carrying out security sweeps.
The security plan also includes stepped-up checks at railway stations and at border crossings, police said.
Security measures will be particularly tight in Milan, where a series of protests are expected from Thursday along the route of the Olympic torch relay against the Games' economic and environmental impact.
On Friday, the city centre will be designated a "red zone" closed to both vehicles and pedestrians, with offices and commercial premises shut.
Around Olympic sites in the city, authorities have set up three concentric screening perimeters monitored by several hundred cameras.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said the operation would, for the first time at a major event in Italy, include a 24-hour cybersecurity control room.
Police have also deployed 24-hour security around hotels in Milan that will host U.S. Vice President JDVance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, IOC members, several royals, as well as staff from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
(Reporting by Emilio Parodi, editing by Keith Weir)
