The organizers of the Champions League final, the police and local authorities will meet after the chaos scenes near the Stade de France on Saturday in Saint-Denis.
Le Monde with AFP
The organizers of the Champions League final, police and local authorities will meet on Monday at 11 am to “identify dysfunctions” and support problems on Saturday, May 28 at the Stade de France, A Announced on Sunday the Ministry of Sports and Olympic Games.
“With the Minister of the Interior, we deplore the incidents that punctuated the evening of the Champions League on Saturday evening at the Stade de France and regret that certain supporters equipped with tickets could not attend the match,” Indicated in a press release the new Minister of Sports and Olympic and Paralympic Games Amélie Oudéa-Castera.
“The priority is now to very precisely identify dysfunctions with UEFA [the European Union of Football Associations], the French Football Federation, the Stade de France, the Paris police headquarters, the prefecture of Seine-Saint-Denis and the town hall of Saint-Denis in order to learn all the lessons to prevent such incidents from happening for our future major international sporting events “, continues the press release.
Saturday, the kick-off of the final of the prestigious Champions League, between Real Madrid and Liverpool (1-0 victory of the Spanish club), was delayed by thirty-six minutes due to problems of Access to the stage of English supporters. The pre-match was marked by chaotic scenes around the stadium, without making serious injuries.
many criticisms in France and abroad
From 6.30 p.m., many fans holding tickets were blocked near the stadium, before accessing the first safety control areas. Around 8 p.m., the spirits started to warm up, a few dozen people who do not hesitate to climb the last access barriers to the interior of the sports enclosure. The police intervened, dispersing the crowd and in passing the supporters provided with tickets, including families, with tear gas.
non-violent, non-threating, tries to scan his ticket, pepper sprayed/tear gased for Nothing by font.… https://t.co/5rfi2emz0v
According to the European Football Union (UEFA), “thousands of spectators” presented themselves with “false tickets that did not work”, creating “an accumulation of spectators” in the queues.
At the end of the match on Saturday evening, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin had pointed out the attitude of “thousands of British supporters without a ticket or with false tickets that forced the entries” of the stadium of France. “Attempts to intrusion and fraud of thousands of English supporters have complicated the work of stadiums and police forces but will not tarnish this victory,” said the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra.
From Saturday evening, numerous testimonies of English journalists or supporters on site, accompanied by photos and videos, put this version badly, pointing to a deficient organization and an aggressive attitude of the police.
The British Merseyside-Liverpool police present at the stadium had mentioned on Twitter “shocking circumstances” and defended the “exemplary” behavior of the supporters of the Reds during the meeting, “the worst” to which she said that she had ever dealt in organization term. Also present at the stadium, Liverpool West Labor MP, Ian Byrne, denounced “horrible security” and an “organization endangering”. “We were treated as animals. It was horrible,” he deplored at the microphone of the Sky Sports channel.
“We are extremely disappointed with access problems and violations of the security perimeter that the Liverpool supporters have suffered”, regretted the English club in a press release.
Critics have been numerous, in France and abroad, as for the organization and management of this sporting event which served as a test for the Rugby World Cup, organized by France in 2023 and for The Paris Olympic Games, which will be held in 2024.