As France faces flak for the chaotic mismanagement of the UEFA Champions League final, the country’s sports minister on Monday blamed a massive ticket fraud and unruly Liverpool fans for the fiasco outside the Stade de France in Paris.
“There were between 30,000 to 40,000 people with fake tickets or without tickets,” Amelie Oudea-Castera told RTL News’ morning show, which caused an “exceptional pressure on the security forces who had the worst difficulty controlling the flows.”
The chaotic scenes outside the stadium, with supporters breaking through security cordons, jumping over large metal gates and police firing tear gas, caused a 35-minute delay in the start of Saturday’s Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid.
The closure of the main train line to Seine-Saint-Denis, where the stadium is located, due to a workers’ strike was also another factor that exacerbated problems for fans.
Oudea-Castera, however, defended France’s record at organizing major sporting events, reiterating that the main issue was fake tickets.
“Because the tickets were fake, the metal gates remained blocked, leading to security issues and congestion which created an extraordinarily frustrating wait for people,” she explained.
She pointed out that Liverpool requested UEFA to issue paper tickets, instead of e-tickets on mobile apps that were “tamper-proof, non-transferable tickets.”
Squarely blaming disorderly British supporters of Liverpool for the commotion, she said there were “no problems” with Real Madrid fans.
“The fact that Real had so supervised the movement of its supporters to Paris by providing buses from the airport, to organize everything from one point to another – which contrasts radically with Liverpool which left its supporters in the wild – created a major difference,” she said.
The interior ministry and Paris police, responsible for security and managing crowds at the weekend fixture, have also linked the debacle to fake tickets sold to Liverpool supporters.
Paris police chief Didier Lallement said there were “probably between 30,000 and 40,000 people who showed up at the stadium beyond the 80,000 eligible.”
Lallement has appealed to a Paris court to open an investigation to identify those responsible for the massive counterfeit fraud.
To determine the reasons for the organizational failure, Oudea-Castera and Interior Minister Gerald Darmamin will hold a meeting on Monday with representatives of the French Football Federation and UEFA.
British authorities and Liverpool, however, are not convinced by the explanation of fake tickets sold to English supporters.
Rodolfo Amaya, president of Liverpool’s official supporters club in France, who was also a guest on the RTL News show, refuted Oudea-Castera’s claims.
“Liverpool supporters are used to traveling without a ticket, but 30,000 to 40,000 people with fake tickets creating a ruckus in front of the Stade de France is not possible,” he said.
Nadine Dorries, UK secretary for digital, culture, media and sport, has joined Liverpool in demanding an inquiry into the troubling events that marred Saturday’s final, which Real Madrid won 1-0 to clinch a record 14th Champions League title.
Source: Anadolu Agency