seen from London, the police and UEFA are responsible

by time news

It’s rare enough to be noted: the British political and sporting worlds are totally in phase in their analysis of the excesses around the Champions League final on Saturday evening at the Stade de France. Those responsible, according to them: UEFA and the French police. Rob Draper, the manager of the football pages of the Mail on Sundaynotably described in detail the catastrophic management of the flow of supporters.

→ READ. Champions League: Darmanin defends the police, the rest of the world denounces his action

Arriving at 6:45 p.m., more than two hours before the start of the match, he describes an atmosphere « festive ». But from the start, he felt that the organizers were failing to manage the large number of Liverpool supporters who approached the entrances which had been reserved for them and that special restrictions had been put in place for them. Many stadium gates were closed and no ticket checks took place before immediate entry into the stadium.

At 8 p.m., an hour before kick-off, he noted that “Nobody tried to climb the barriers, to rush towards the doors. The accumulation of supporters and the delay are linked to the incompetence of the organization. » Remarks confirmed by the assistant director of the police of Liverpool: “The vast majority of fans behaved in an exemplary manner, arriving early and queuing as requested. »

Hillsborough drama on everyone’s mind

The management of Liverpool fans suggests that French sports officials and police imagined themselves to be beset by hordes of violent English supporters. However, English football has changed a lot since the 1980s, when hooligans regularly undermined the Premier League. Through numerous measures, Premier League officials have managed to put an end to the violence in and around the stadiums. So much so that the sports arenas have become almost too quiet in the eyes of some: “When the PSG ultras came to Liverpool in 2019 with their club, all the old-timers like me remembered our youth, remembers John Williams, Liverpool FC supporter since he was 6 years old. This enthusiasm, this noise, this fury… They were great! »

Champions League in Paris: ominous incidents before the Olympics?

While hooligans have not disappeared from England, they are now rampant in the lower divisions and around the much less watched England national team. This explains in particular the troubles caused during the final last summer of the European football championship between England and Italy. An event also managed by UEFA.

Liverpool fans know better than anyone the importance of an orderly arrival at the stadium. Those who made the trip to Paris, fans and journalists, immediately drew a parallel with the Hillsborough drama. On April 15, 1989 in Sheffield, 96 people were killed and 770 people were injured in the semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. Most were crushed against the fences.

After a long investigation, the main leaders of the police and the municipality were found responsible for the tragedy because of their disastrous management of the flow of supporters. Initially, however, they had accused the supporters of having caused a scuffle.

Stripped at the exit of the stadium

British MP Ian Byrne, present in Hillsborough and Saturday in Paris, accused in a letter UEFA, the French police and the French sports minister Amélie Ouéda-Castéra of having used the same tactic: “Their attempt to immediately control the discourse of the game and blame the Liverpool fans is truly shameful and totally reminiscent of the unfolding of events at Hillsborough. » He asks them to withdraw their accusations and apologize. The French Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, believes, on the contrary, that “without the decisions taken by the police and the prefect, there would have been deaths” in the Champions League final at the Stade de France.

As well as the use of tear gas against families, MP Ian Byrne also questioned the complete absence of police after the game outside the stadium, where many Liverpool fans were attacked and robbed by gangs local. Some are still in France, their passports having been stolen. “The fans deserve to know what happened”said Boris Johnson’s spokesman on Monday, May 30, urging UEFA to “to work closely with the French authorities in a full investigation” and publish the findings.

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