“It is obvious that things could have been better organised”, but the government “has nothing to hide”. Hearing Wednesday in the Senate, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin and the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra maintained the version of the French authorities on the origin of the chaos which reigned around the Stade de France on Saturday evening on the sidelines of the final. of the Champions League between Liverpool and Real Madrid. But by initiating a mea culpa on certain elements of this “fiasco”, in the words of Laurent Lafon, president of the commission for culture, education and communication.
Government persists on Liverpool supporters without tickets or with fakes
“The root cause” of these overflows, underlined Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. “The same ticket has been duplicated 760 times, another 744 times,” said Gérald Darmanin, exposing what he presented as an authentic sesame and a falsified one. The tenant of Place Beauvau argued that between “57 and 70%” of the tickets presented at the pre-filtering points – where he spoke of “more than 70%” on Monday – were fraudulent. Where UEFA and the FFF mention 2,800 counterfeit tickets scanned at the stadium entrance turnstiles, a figure taken up by Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, the document presented by the Minister of the Interior lists 2,589.
To justify the “30 to 40,000” Reds supporters who came with the intention of defrauding, the minister claimed that around 110,000 people had converged on the stadium, 25,000 more than the enclosure’s capacity for the final, using public transport, coaches, private cars. The minister relied on figures provided by the French Football Federation on Tuesday. Figures that show a difference on certain points: on Monday, the Ministry of the Interior estimated that 16,000 people had arrived by bus, where the FFF sees 21,000.
Question from several senators: but where did these more than 30,000 supporters go once they were turned away? Gérald Darmanin took refuge behind information feedback from the SNCF and CCTV images showing a large arrival of Liverpool fans on the RER D platform before the end of the meeting. A point not communicated by the SNCF to the media so far and which has not convinced the elected officials of the Luxembourg Palace. Gérald Darmanin affirmed that they could not produce them during this hearing open to the press and broadcast online for legal issues.
Darmanin “very sincerely” apologizes for “disproportionate” actions by police
If the heart of the thesis has not evolved, the Minister of the Interior expressed his regrets on several points, in particular on the scenes of Liverpool fans targeted by tear gas fired with sprays by police officers on the forecourt around the enclosure. Gérald Darmanin “very sincerely” apologized for his “disproportionate and inappropriate” actions, considering that they had caused “great damage, especially to children”. In the same way, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra again expressed her “regrets to the supporters whose evening had been spoiled”.
The Minister of the Interior also announced that two referrals to the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) had been made and that he had asked the Paris police headquarters to sanction the culprits. “But to push back a crowd that is going to be crushed, there are no other means of dispersal,” he said, repeating several times that the action of the police, in particular the decision to remove the bottleneck at the level of the pre-filtering under the A86, had made it possible to “save lives”.
Still on the security aspect, Gérald Darmanin acknowledged that the system had focused too much on the risks linked to “hooliganism”, abandoning classic delinquency, many facts of which have been reported in testimonies. “Could we fight better [contre ces problèmes]? Of course,” he stressed.
A mechanism for filing a complaint in Spain and the United Kingdom
Another announcement from Gérald Darmanin, the possibility for Real Madrid and Liverpool supporters to file a complaint, in particular about the assaults and thefts of which they may have been victims before or after the meeting. French police officers will be dispatched to Spain and the United Kingdom with this in mind. An online platform will also be set up, and supporters of the two countries will also be able to request to enter the IGPN.
Adjustments from France-Denmark and for the future
The Minister of the Interior promised changes in the police system on Friday, and the match of the League of Nations of the Blues against Denmark. It will precisely aim to better identify and prevent the risks associated with theft or assault. In addition, Gérald Darmanin also announced investments in video surveillance around the RER D. He also explained that he had asked the interministerial delegate to the Olympic Games, Michel Cadot, to find alternative means to tear gas dispersion for major events to come.
Amélié Oudéa-Castéra felt that the authorities had to “improve on communication, especially for travelers in public transport. We must ask ourselves about the quality of the coordination of our public protection agents and private agents”.