The controversy continues in France after the organizational failures of the Champions League final at the Stade de France, marked by scenes of chaos around the stadium. UEFA maintains that the disorganization had its origin in a problem of “false tickets”, which caused traffic jams in the access queues to the venue.
Fans, for their part, have denounced the presence of groups of unidentified local youths stealing and trying to enter the stadium without a ticket.
One of them, a young man named Ibrahim, whose Instagram nickname is ‘Challenger.67’, recorded himself entering the Stade de France by going under the turnstile and boasting that he had gained access thanks to his fame.
It is not clear if he had a ticket or was ‘sneaked’ into the stadium for being an ‘influencer’. French television and radio presenter Cyril Hanouna also appears in the video and agrees without showing his entrance amidst the chaos. According to statements from people close to ‘Le Figaro’, the presenter has no relationship with the young man.
But the case of ‘Challenger.67’ has come to light for more reasons. The young man, who has more than 81,000 followers on Instagram, appears a few days before the Paris final shooting a Kalashnikov, according to him, in Syria. “How do you shoot? How do you feel? », He shouts in a video before his companions replied:« With the Kalashnikov! ». He then fires several shots in a seemingly deserted area.
According to the French media, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, would have asked the police for a report on the young man. “The minister has asked his services to go to the prosecution to denounce these actions and clarify the circumstances in which these videos were recorded.”
Outside the party, 105 people were arrested, according to the Interior Ministry. According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, about twenty people were arrested, essentially for violent acts, selling false tickets for the meeting and robberies near the ‘fan zones’.
For Ronan Evain, director of Football Supporters Europe, this case “raises questions about France’s ability to organize such events.” And it is that the security device (6,800 police and firefighters) was to serve as a test for the Rugby World Cup, organized by France in 2023 and for the Olympic Games in Paris, the following year.
