The Senate, the upper house of the French parliament, published its provisional findings on Wednesday, 46 days after the event at the Stade de France, which was marred by crowd trouble before and after the match. Liverpool fans were tear-gassed and the match was delayed for more than half an hour to deal with overcrowding around the stadium, before the French government’s initial response condemned the Reds fans and accused them of arriving with fake tickets. The Senate report found rhetorical cover-ups by the French authorities over the staging of the match, saying: “It is unfair that we wanted to make the fans of the Liverpool team bear the blame for the disturbances that took place, as the Home Secretary did. to distract attention from the inability of the state to adequately manage the crowds present and to curtail the action of many hundreds of violent and organized offenders.” Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player Sky Sports News chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol says the events outside the Stade de France do not match what French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has deemed a hoax. The report found that the chaos had been caused by a “chain of events and malfunctions” in the days and hours before kick-off. He added: “The systems put in place had significant shortcomings in terms of intelligence (no hooligans but presence of offenders in large numbers), transport routes for fans (removal of a drop-off route in the surrounding area of the stadium) and poor communication. “Problems did not arise only in the execution. On the upside, the crisis scenarios were poorly worked out and did not show the necessary flexibility in the face of so many unforeseen events.” Report co-chair Laurent Lafon said it had been agreed by all senators involved in the investigation and was caused by a “chain of administrative errors” that allowed all parties to feel that someone else was to blame. “The gravity of what happened at the Stade de France shows that there are many decisions that need to be made to ensure that this does not happen again at the Rugby World Cup or the Olympics,” he said. “It is unfair to seek to blame Liverpool fans for the riots as Home Secretary [Gérald Darmanin] did to divert attention from the inability of the state to adequately manage the crowd. “There needed to be clear communication about the transport of fans from the train station between the chief of police, the FA and the train operators, but this did not happen. Image: Trent Alexander-Arnold of Liverpool reacts at the end of the Champions League final soccer match between Liverpool and Real Madrid at the Stade de France in Saint Denis near Paris, Saturday, May 28, 2022. Real Madrid defeated Liverpool 1 -0. (AP Photo/ “We recommend communicating more with football fans and improving the attractiveness of the area around the Stade de France so that people are willing to arrive early. “We want the authorities’ view of football fans to change, this is a strong recommendation we are making.”
What happened in the Champions League final?
The exhibition match between Liverpool and Real Madrid at the Stade de France in May was overshadowed by serious problems around the pitch. Dangerous crashes were created as a result of access problems and many fans were tear gassed or pepper sprayed by the police. Some of Jurgen Klopp’s relatives experienced the problem first hand, but didn’t tell the German until afterwards. French senators last month called on the state to acknowledge responsibility and identify the culprits behind the chaos outside the national stadium that marred the event. They also questioned why government officials allowed surveillance video of the scene, which showed police pepper-spraying fans and families, to be deleted instead of ordered to be turned over to investigators. Liverpool Disabled Supporters Association chairman Ted Morris also gave his account of what happened on the day of the Champions League final to the French Senate. Morris told Sky Sports News: “We got to the station at 3pm and it was surprising that there wasn’t a single police officer. “We headed to the stadium and went to a McDonald’s for three hours. In those three hours, I’ve never seen so many pickpockets in my life – it was one after the other. It was absolutely bizarre. It gave us an insight into how this day went. “We then made our way to the ticket control area which was just not fit for purpose. It was just locals coming in. I had a chat with one of our officers from Merseyside Police at around 6.15pm and he was extremely disturbed by the events. “It was just chaotic. There was no organization, no police presence at the turnstiles to help or even act as a deterrent. “I had no interest in the game because, for two hours, I was getting text messages from people in the club and from our disabled fans about the anguish that was happening outside, so the game became irrelevant. We could have won 6-0 and I still wouldn’t care. “I was going to leave at half-time and I got a message saying don’t leave at half-time, it’s not safe. So we stayed until the 86th minute, we left the ground and the manager didn’t open the door. We had a heated discussion and he opened the gate because there were still many locals trying to get in. “We headed to the subway station called La Plaine. We went under the underpass and there were a lot of police there. As we left the underpass, literally within a minute, there were hundreds of locals on our right who just attacked us I’m in wheelchair and I was terrified. Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player Paris police chief Didier Lalemaine has apologized to Liverpool fans at the Champions League final after being teargassed outside the Stade de France. “There were bottles raining in, there were knives, they were running, attacking people and running out. And when we finally got to the train station, the police tear gassed us. I’ll never understand it, no matter how you try to explain it. “We went up in the accessible lift to the platform and there was a little girl of about six in a Liverpool kit with her dad. Her eyes were wild, red, and she was completely and utterly traumatized. All he did was go to Paris to watch a football festival and how he will ever be able to go to a football match or even trust the authorities is beyond me. It was unnecessary and absolutely horrible.”
“It’s not just about Liverpool fans, it’s about all football fans”
Speaking to Sky Sports News, The Anfield Wrap’s John Gibbons explained how the campaign against the treatment is being done on behalf of the wider football community. “You hope to hear about more accountability,” he said. “The quotes we are getting from UEFA are a disgrace to be honest with you, so it seems they are not taking any responsibility. “The blame is placed on the fans in the same way that French government ministers are treated. I want accountability and I also want no football fan to have to put up with what we went through. “It’s not about Liverpool fans, it’s about all football fans who feel they can go and celebrate the game. This was in Madrid, it was in Kyiv and it should have been in Paris. “You want guarantees from UEFA that in the future they will make sure it is much smoother and that the fans who have spent a lot of money to be there are treated much better and are safer. “After what we went through, we couldn’t really care about the result and it was a Champions League final.”
