UEFA waited until the end of the match at the Saint Denis stadium to explain the incidents that occurred in the accesses before the start of the match, which finally forced its start to be delayed by a little more than half an hour. In an official statement, the governing body of European football explained that the problems in the Champions League final had their origin in the large number of fans who arrived at the turnstiles with false tickets.
“In the run-up to the match, the turnstiles at the back of Liverpool were blocked by thousands of fans who had bought fake tickets that did not work on the machines. This caused an accumulation of fans trying to enter the venue. As a result, the start of the match was delayed 35 minutes to allow access to as many fans as possible with authentic tickets », he argued.
“As the number of people outside the stadium continued to increase after the start of the clash, the police dispersed them with tear gas and forced them to leave the stadium,” he added about the police action at the Stade de France entrances.
The federal entity does not specify anything about the thousands of fans who, jumping the fences or running, managed to sneak into the Parisian stadium, putting the capacity security measures at risk. Neither of the numerous cases of robberies at the gates of the enclosure, peculiarly sensitive because the tickets are in digital format.
“UEFA stands in solidarity with those affected by these events and will urgently review these matters together with the French police and authorities, as well as with the French Football Federation,” the official note concludes.
