France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin sparked anger after blaming Liverpool fans for the distressing scenes in the build-up to the Champions League final.
Thousands of supporters were pepper-sprayed by police, crammed into dangerously tight spaces, and left waiting for hours outside the Stade de France ahead of the Reds’ 1-0 defeat to Real Madrid. One of the main gates was closed for close to an hour with thousands of fans left on a walkway, with pregnant women and children among those caught up in the chaos.
Despite countless eyewitness accounts to the contrary, Darmanin had tweeted: “Thousands of British ‘supporters’, without tickets or with counterfeit tickets, forced entry and sometimes assaulted the stewards. Thank you to the very many police forces mobilised this evening in this difficult context.”
French politician and Member of the European Parliament Jerome Riviere insisted that was a “lie” and demanded that Darmanin “apologise to the British for having wrongly accused them and to the French for the shameful fake news.”
More from Football
Why the 'richest game in football' could be worth £300m to Nottingham Forest or Huddersfield29 May, 2022
The personal tragedy inspiring Huddersfield's unlikely hero in race to the Premier League29 May, 2022
Champions League final was a sorry night for Liverpool and an even worse one for football28 May, 2022Kick-off was delayed by more than half an hour – having initially been pushed back by 15 minutes – with Uefa immediately blaming the “late arrival of fans”. European football’s governing body released a further statement claiming that turnstiles had been “blocked by thousands of fans who had purchased fake tickets which did not work”. Uefa said it would launch an urgent review alongside French authorities.
However, Merseyside Police – who had officers present at the scene – said that “the vast majority of fans behaved in an exemplary manner, arriving at turnstiles early and queuing as directed”.
“We know that people would have witnessed a lot of distressing scenes last night and we wish everyone returning home from Paris a safe journey,” they added.
Left-back Andy Robertson added weight to fans’ accounts, revealing he had given a ticket to a friend who was then told it was fake.
“You have to have some sympathy because this was thrown on Paris kind of the last minute with all that has gone on with Russia [the final was moved from the Gazprom Arena in St Petersburg to the Stade de France in February following the invasion of Ukraine],” Robertson said.
“But as a Uefa competition it is the biggest game in world football and it should be organised a lot better. Things like that should not be happening and definitely the force used by certain authorities should not be happening either.
“Pretty much all our families were affected. I can only speak for my family and all I know is everyone is safe and that’s my main priority. I hope all the fans are safe.”
Liverpool supporters trust’ Spirit of Shankly also criticised Uefa’s “extremely dangerous” and “shambolic mismanagement” of the match, accusing them of pushing a “narrative that fans were to blame”.
“Fans were not late,” they said. “Many began arriving more than two-and-a-half hours before the scheduled kick-off… The failure was with Uefa, the French authorities or police.
Related Stories
“The French authorities and police also failed to control gangs of local youths before and after the match. Innocent fans were left distraught after they were assaulted, bags pick-pocketed and match tickets stolen.”
Spirit of Shankly cited a Merseyside police officer who described it as “the worst European match I’ve ever worked at or experienced”.
Liverpool have formally requested an inquiry. “We are hugely disappointed at the stadium entry issues and breakdown of the security perimeter that Liverpool fans faced this evening at Stade de France,” a club statement said.
“This is the greatest match in European football and supporters should not have to experience the scenes we have witnessed tonight. We have officially requested a formal investigation into the causes of these unacceptable issues.”
from Football | News and analysis from the Premier League and beyond | iNews https://ift.tt/OMZ9ofC
Post a Comment