The reactions are multiplying after the violence which punctuated the final of the Champions League on Saturday evening.

The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, denounced Monday, May 30 a "massive, industrial and organized fraud of counterfeit tickets", responsible for the numerous incidents around the Stade de France before the long-awaited meeting between Liverpool and Real Madrid.

For his part, the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, said he was "extremely disappointed" by the treatment inflicted on the English supporters.

"30,000 to 40,000 English supporters found themselves at the Stade de France, either without a ticket or with falsified tickets", denounced Gérald Darmanin to the press, after an interministerial meeting organized on these dysfunctions.

"What has been observed is massive, industrial and organized fraud, counterfeit banknotes," denounced the minister.

“70%” of the paper tickets presented to the pre-filtering were fakes”, he specified and, “once passed this pre-filtering, more than 15%” were fakes.

At 9 p.m., the time scheduled for the kick-off – finally delayed – of the meeting between Liverpool and Real Madrid, "97% of Spanish supporters were present in their stands" against "only 50% of British supporters", said the Minister of the Interior.

>> To read also: "Chaotic evening at the Stade de France: a failure which questions two years from the Paris Olympics"

“There would have been deaths”

Gérald Darmanin defended the system put in place by the Paris police headquarters to secure the final.

"To have been there, without the decisions taken by the police and the prefect, there would have been deaths", he assured, giving "all his support" to the prefect Didier Lallement, whose methods of maintaining order are the subject of much criticism.

The Minister also indicated that 2,700 tickets had "not been activated" out of the 79,000 sold.

He said he was "sorry" for the spectators with tickets who were unable to attend the match and expressed his "regrets" for the spectators who suffered from the use of tear gas used by the police. .

The Minister of Sports added that there would be "compensation" for the holders of these tickets.

"The fans deserve to know what happened"

"The supporters deserve to know what happened," insisted Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesman, urging UEFA to "work closely with the French authorities in a full investigation" and publish it. conclusions.

"We know that many Liverpool supporters have traveled to Paris in time to support their team," he added, stressing that UEFA's statements referring to a late arrival of supporters does not correspond to what lived many people who were around the stadium.

"We are extremely disappointed with the way they were treated," he continued, judging the images of the Stade de France "deeply disturbing and worrying".

With AFP

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