Liverpool supporters at the gates of the Stade de France. Panoramic
A report from the European body, obtained The worldpoints the finger at the French security system, responsible for attacks on English and Spanish supporters.
A totally faulty French security system during the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid on May 28, 2022. This is the conclusion of a UEFA investigation report which appealed during eight months, to a panel of lawyers, academics and representatives of supporters’ associations. The daily The world has obtained this document and publishes long extracts from it.
While French authorities were focused on the alleged issue of British hooligans, the real problem came from French criminals who assaulted English and Spanish fans before and after the match, the report explains. Serious facts that have already taken place in the past during other sporting events.
“High risk of trampling”
The Ministry of the Interior explained that “30,000 to 40,000 English supporters“Would have been present at the Stade de France, “either without a ticket or with counterfeit tickets“. A thesis defeated by the UEFA report which evokes “2,589 ticket presentations with unknown QR codes“, refuting the hypothesis of a “massive and industrial fraud“. The report is scathing:Stakeholders who claimed these figures, including ministers, the police headquarters, UEFA and the FFF acted irresponsibly” in order to “disclaim liability for failures».
Supported by numerous testimonies from Reds and Real supporters, the report details, chronologically, the facts: the poorly organized security check presenting a “high risk of trampling» and the assaults around the Dionysian enclosure which took place before the match and after the victory of Karim Benzema’s team (1-0). The kick-off of the meeting had been postponed for 36 minutes because of his clashes.
Misuse of tear gas
On the day of the match, the special envoys of the Figaro present in Saint-Denis had noted various intrusions over the gates at the level of the forecourt of the Dionysian enclosure, at least twenty young people having managed to pass. “With sometimes the impression of an overwhelmed security service faced with the mass of individuals without tickets and eager to enter the Stade de France enclosure“, they wrote. The UEFA report points to the excessive use of tear gas, before the match, to prevent other individuals from climbing barriers and after the final.
This episode is a stain for the French authorities as the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris approach. The panel set up by UEFA proposes, in conclusion and “respectfully“, twenty-one recommendations, in particular that the Ministries of the Interior and Sports “revise their management model» sporting events and use of «riot control forces in an exclusively proportional manner».
UEFA remains primarily responsible
UEFA, organizer of the Champions League final, wears the “primary responsibility“serious incidents”that almost led to disaster“Last May at the Stade de France, concluded Monday a group of experts after an independent investigation mandated by the European body.
«The group concluded that UEFA, as the owner of the event, bears primary responsibility for the failures that almost led to disaster“, can we read in this long document obtained by theAFPwhich also pinpoints the Prefecture of Police and the French Football Federation (FFF).
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