BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — Police have made one arrest after a security incident caused transportation delays for fans and athletes leaving Alexander Stadium following Saturday night’s session at the European track-and-field championships in Birmingham.
Medal ceremonies were postponed to Sunday, when West Midlands Police said a man in his 30s had been arrested on suspicion of fraud. Governing body European Athletics added “it is safe to attend the stadium” Sunday night for the concluding session of the week-long championships.
Police said in a statement that around 8:15 p.m. Saturday “concerns were raised after a man was found in an area of Alexander Stadium with the wrong accreditation.”
“As a precaution, security measures were put in place and transport for the championship staff and athletes were suspended,” the statement said. “This then led to delays to transport from the stadium for the wider public.”
Police said there was “no immediate risk to the public," and that the man remained in custody Sunday for questioning.
Fans had waited in long lines while transport was suspended. Just past 11 p.m. Saturday, organizers posted an apology on social media for “significant delays” and that bus service would “gradually begin to take place.”
“The safety and wellbeing of our spectators, athletes, workforce and the wider championships family will always be our first priority,” Birmingham 2026 said in a statement.
The stadium is located outside the city center.
“We recognize that the delays presented challenges for those affected and would like to thank everyone for their patience, understanding and cooperation throughout the evening,” organizers said.
European Athletics said the local organizing committee has worked closely with authorities “to ensure that all necessary measures are in place” for Sunday night.
“Any issues connected with last night have now been fully resolved,” it said Sunday. "Everything possible has been done to guarantee the safety and smooth running of tonight's competition.
“Fans can be reassured that it is safe to attend the stadium for the closing night of the championships.”
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Athletes race in the men's 10,000 meters final at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, England, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
MILAN (AP) — Thieves stole four works attributed to Renaissance painter Antonello da Messina worth millions of euros from the regional museum in the city of Messina in Sicily while crowds gathered across town for the traditional Assumption holiday celebrations, cultural officials and Italian media said Sunday.
The thieves bypassed alarm and security systems on Saturday evening at the MuMe museum, making off with three of the five surviving panels of the San Gregorio Polyptych, dated to 1473, as well as the double-sided panel depicting the Virgin Mary and the dead Christ in Pietà, which was removed from an armored display case, the news agency LaPresse reported.
They removed all five panels of the San Gregorio Polyptych from their frame, but abandoned two behind a wall while fleeing.
Art expert Alberto Fiz estimated the value of the stolen works at 70 million euros ($81 million) to 80 million euros ($92 million) .
“We are devastated by what happened. They were two of Antonello da Messina’s most important and best-known works. It is a tremendous loss for the museum, the city, the community and the art world,” MuMe director Marisa Mercurio told the ANSA news agency.
She said the theft occurred just before 10 p.m., and described the works as central to the region's heritage.
“These are not merely works by Antonello da Messina,” she told Sky TG24. “They are works that hold considerable significance in terms of our identity, as well as, of course, their artistic and cultural value, because they are works by our very own Antonello da Messina.”
Messina’s top culture official, Enzo Caruso, called the theft “more than a loss” and “a disaster.”
“Messina without Antonello is deprived of the very essence of the greatest artist of the European Renaissance,” Caruso told Sky, calling for the swift recovery of the stolen works.
Caruso noted that international interest in the artist had intensified since Italy’s Culture Ministry acquired Antonello’s devotional painting “Ecce Homo” for $14.9 million through negotiations with Sotheby’s in New York earlier this year.
Lynda Albertson, an art-crime analyst, said the works are instantly recognizable, impeding any effort to sell them through reputable channels.
"Stealing an Antonello may be far easier than selling one. If these are ordinary thieves, they will soon discover that — to their cost,” Albertson, who is the chief executive of the ARCA art crimes research association, told the Italian daily La Repubblica. She said such famous artworks often pass from one criminal to another, serving as collateral for other illicit activity.
The museum was closed Sunday while investigators gathered evidence. Neither museum officials nor the Carabinieri could immediately be reached for comment.
The Ferragosto holiday, which marks the feast of the Assumption of Mary, marks the height of the Italian summer holiday season, and was being celebrated in Messina with a procession that culminated prayers and a blessing in the main Piazza Duomo around the time of the heist.
The theft comes just days after police in the northern Italian city of Parma announced that they had recovered three stolen artworks by Renoir, Cézanne and Matisse worth about 10 million euros ($11.5 million). Five people have been detained in the March 22-23 theft from the Magnani Rocca Foundation located in the Parma province.
A journalist browses the Messina museum website showing a picture of the Early Renaissance painter Antonello da Messina's artwork where three of the five panels belonging to the Polyptych of San Gregorio and the double-sided panel with the Madonna and the Christ in Pietà, stolen from the Sicilian museum on Aug. 15, in Rome, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
