France blames Liverpool fans for security problems at Champions League final

PARIS, 30 May. (DPA/EP) -

The French authorities have blamed Liverpool fans on Monday for the security problems that occurred during the Champions League final that the English club faced Real Madrid on Saturday.

The French Sports Minister, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, has blamed these problems on the fact that between 30,000 and 40,000 Liverpool fans traveled to Paris "without tickets" or with fakes, although she has acknowledged that they also tried to enter the stadium without a ticket. Stade de France "local youth".

In that sense, he regretted that the tear gas used by the Police to contain the situation also affected families and especially the little ones and has asked UEFA to initiate a "deep" and "very detailed" investigation of the appearance of so many false entries.

Oudea-Castera has highlighted that although France is capable of organizing top-level sporting events, as it has already shown in the past with the celebration of Euro 2016 football, this Saturday's episodes are important to draw conclusions for the organization of future similar events, such as the Rugby World Cup in 2022, or the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024.

For his part, the French Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, has denounced that the security problems that occurred around the stadium are the result of "massive fraud" in the purchase of false tickets.

"There was massive fraud (...) 70 percent of the entries were false," said the French interior minister. "More than 2,600 were confirmed by UEFA as non-validated tickets even though they had passed through the first filter," he explained.

"The massive presence of false tickets was the problem that caused the delays," said Darmanin, who has sent his apologies to the fans who could not enter the stadium on time. "I'm sorry for the mistakes that took place," he said.

For their part, from the United Kingdom they have criticized the work of the Police and have demanded an explanation of the treatment given to the fans of the English club. Foreign Minister Liz Truss has sent UEFA and the French authorities a list of seven demands, including an investigation and a formal apology for what happened.