French authorities supported police Monday’s use of tear gas and pepper spray in indiscriminately targeting Liverpool fans at the Champions League final. They also blamed industrial fraud levels that saw 30,000-40,000 people attempt to enter the Stade de France using fake tickets, or none at all.
UEFA requested an independent report, which it stated would “examine the decision-making, responsibility and behavior of all entities in the final”, and be made public.
Following a meeting into Saturday’s chaos, the French ministers for sport and interior transferred responsibility to the Liverpool fans. They did not provide details about how they knew so many fake tickets were available. People who purchased legitimate tickets through Liverpool or UEFA said they had difficulty accessing the stadium.
Gerald Darmanin, Interior minister, stated that there was widespread fraud at the industrial level. “Fifteen per cent of the fake tickets were also after the first filtering… more that 2,600 tickets were confirmed as invalid tickets by UEFA even though they had been through the first filtering.
The French sports ministry did not provide any evidence and did not reply to an email that was sent after hosting a news conference.
Darmanin stated that there was a huge presence of fake tickets, which caused delays. “Three times, the match began delayed.”
The final, which Liverpool lost to Real Madrid 1-0, started 37 minutes late.
Billy Hogan, chief executive of Liverpool, said that it was inappropriate for French authorities to form conclusions and make comments on numbers so soon.
Hogan stated that “at this stage, I don’t think it’s responsible to make comments before we have actually gathered all of the information.” “How is it possible to quantify (the number fans who have not purchased tickets) at this stage before an independent and transparent investigation has been conducted? People with fake tickets have also been mentioned. However, we don’t know the whole story until we have an investigation.
Liverpool is “reviewing legal avenues” for supporters, Hogan stated.
“The Champions League final should have been one of the most spectacular spectacles in football, but it ended up being one of the most painful experiences of many supporters’ life.” To sum it all, I believe that any politicians or agencies involved in this event should wait for an independent investigation before trying to shift blame.
Pepper spray and tear gas were used to target Liverpool fans. This affected children, which Darmanin defended in order to avoid any deaths.
Darmanin stated, “I would like to thank law enforcement and those working in the stadium for their calm and ability to avoid drama. So thank you for organizing pre-filtering and lifting it when there was too many pressure to avoid drama.” The prefecture made that decision to prevent any deaths or serious injuries.
French Sports Minister Amelie Oueda–Castera claimed that fans arrived late to the stadium due to crowd control problems, but she did not specify when they should have arrived at Paris’ stadium.
OuedaCastera stated that “We have seen, there are some aspects we need to improve in risky match management with regard to flows, first filtering and second filtering, and so we must ensure we examine electronic ticketing as closely possible to avoid fraud as far ticketing is concerned.” This is a crucial step.
Oueda Castro did state that supporters who were unable to get into the stadium should receive compensation, but she ignored all questions when she left the news conference.
OuedaCastera stated, “We are very sorry for all those whose experience was lost all that evening.” “For those who bought tickets but were unable attend the match. We have asked UEFA for a compensation system — 2,700 including British citizens — to ensure that these people get compensation.
UEFA didn’t raise the question of compensating fans during its own investigation.
