Liverpool fans were unfairly blamed for the chaos which surrounded last season’s Champions League final in Paris to ‘divert attention’ from the failure of the organisers, a French Senate report has found.
The Senate has heard from Reds supporters, along with French police and government officials and UEFA’s events director, Martin Kallen, since the match on May 28, which kicked off more than half an hour late.
France’s interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, initially laid the blame for the delays at the door of ticketless Liverpool supporters for the build-up of crowds at the perimeter of the Stade de France, with police also using tear gas on fans as they waited to gain entry.
Liverpool fans were accused of turning up with fake tickets, but the report confirmed this was not the reason for the alarming scenes
The Champions League final’s chaotic scenes were caused by ‘operational failures’ a report commissioned by the French government found
In the aftermath of the May 28 fixture, between Liverpool and Real Madrid, the French government and police attempted to blame the issues on ’30-40,000’ Reds fans they claimed turned up with counterfeit tickets.
The report said the French football federation (FFF) had identified 2,471 counterfeit tickets, 1,644 of them in the southern sector of the stadium dedicated to Liverpool supporters.
The provisional report of the French Senate findings, published on Wednesday, stated: ‘It is unfair to have wanted to make supporters of the Liverpool team bear the responsibility for the disturbances that occurred, as the Minister of the Interior did to divert attention from the inability of the state to adequately manage the crowds present and to curb the action of several hundred violent and co-ordinated offenders.’
Police chiefs in France defended their decision to use tear gas on innocent fans prior to the clash at the Stade de France
Fans were stuck outside the Stade de France for two hours before being hit with the gas
The report found the chaos had been caused by a ‘chain of events and malfunctions’ in the days and hours leading up to kick-off.
The report added: ‘The systems put in place had major shortcomings with regard to the intelligence (absence of hooligans but presence of delinquents in large numbers), the transport routes for supporters (removal of a drop-off route at the surroundings of the stadium) and insufficient communication.
‘It is not only in the execution that problems arose. Upstream, the crisis scenarios were insufficiently worked on and did not demonstrate the necessary flexibility in the face of so many unanticipated events.’
The Senate report said the French authorities must learn the lessons from the ‘serious collective failure’ which had occurred and apply them to the hosting of next year’s Rugby World Cup and the 2024 Olympic Games.
Paris police chief Didier Lallement gave evidence about the security operation for the UEFA Champions League final – and said there was no alternative to using tear gas
The report described UEFA’s management of the ticketing system as ‘unsuitable’ and criticised a lack of training for stewards, who it said were quickly overwhelmed.
UEFA had failed to put in place a system in advance to detect the extent of forgeries, the Senate found.
It also said the decision to run a first check on ticket validity at pre-screening security points had led to checkpoints becoming blocked.
The Senate recommended the introduction of tamper-proof ticketing for such major events, and improved co-ordination between stewards and police.
The Senate report is the latest episode in an embarrassing climbdown by the French authorities.
And previous report, commissioned by the Prime Minister of France, also found operational failures – rather than Liverpool fans with fake tickets – was to blame for the chaos which marred the Champions League Final.
The 30-page document, highlighted significant issues with crowd management, a lack of information on entry points and a failure to read warning signs over the presence of local ‘malicious individuals who came in large numbers to commit acts of delinquency’ as the main contributing factors that led to ‘a climate of tension’.
That allegations against Liverpool supporters have been widely derided given a lack of evidence. They have also been condemned on Merseyside, where around 9,000 harrowing accounts have been handed over to the Anfield club by fans who were in the French capital.
Even so, French officials have defended their actions and in his evidence to the Senate the country’s police chief Didier Lallement stood by the decision to tear gas fans.
‘I’m fully aware people of good faith were gassed, even families,’ Mr Lallement told a feisty meeting at the Paris Senate. ‘I’m sorry but there were no other means. The only way was to gas people. I asked for gas to be used.’
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