The clashes which occurred in front of the Stade de France last Saturday during the Champions League final, which pitted Liverpool against Real Madrid, quickly took on political proportions.

Pointed out since these incidents, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin came to explain himself before the Law and Culture Committees of the Senate this Wednesday evening, in the company of Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, the newly appointed Minister of Sports .

20 Minutes

takes stock of the most important statements of this hearing.

A "sincere" apology

“It is obvious that the negative image of this match is a wound for the national image, and things could have been better organized”, recognized the Minister of the Interior from the outset.

“It is obvious that this celebration of sport has been ruined,” he added.

"And we very sincerely regret the sometimes unacceptable excesses that have taken place," said the minister, under fire from critics after his statements on the number of fake tickets that would have been issued for this final.

Gérald Darmanin "very sincerely apologized" to Liverpool supporters for "the great damage, especially to children" caused by tear gas, assuring that "sanctions will be taken".

Entering the IGPN

"Two referrals to the IGPN", the police force, were made by citizens, also indicated the Minister of the Interior.

“There were inappropriate and disproportionate gestures on the part of police officers or mobile gendarmes”, admitted the tenant of Place Beauvau.

“I personally saw two facts, where obviously public order and the use of tear gas were contrary to the rules of use”, he said again, specifying that he had “asked sanctions from the prefect of police” for these two law enforcement officers.

The Minister also announced that British and Spanish citizens assaulted after the match "will be able to file a complaint in their country from Monday" and also make a referral to the General Inspectorate of the French National Police (IGPN).

Figures based on public transport

We come back to the figures put forward by Gérald Darmanin.

He had mentioned "30,000 to 40,000 English supporters [...] either without a ticket or with falsified tickets", attracting numerous accusations of lying.

The Minister returned to this range before the Senate, explaining that he was relying on “the figures given by the RATP or the SNCF”.

The Minister of the Interior reaffirmed that "110,000 people" showed up "in and around the Stade de France" on Saturday for 75,000 valid tickets sold.

However, only “2,800 counterfeit notes were scanned on the tripod”.

New rules considered

Gérald Darmanin asked the interministerial delegate for the Olympic Games and major events, Michel Cadot, to consider “different rules” from that of dispersion with tear gas in the event of “exceptional sporting events”.

However, the Minister continues to assert that “tear gas saved a number of people from the crash”.

Also present at the hearing, the Minister of Sports and the Olympic Games, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, listed areas for improvement.

Among them, "optimize the management of the first filtering area", with a "fair distribution of responsibilities between private security agents and public security forces" and "well-calibrated material resources".

Policy

Incidents at the Stade de France: Target of opposition, Gérald Darmanin retains "all the confidence" of Emmanuel Macron

Sport

Incidents at the Stade de France: 5,000 testimonials from supporters received by Liverpool, the club says it is "horrified"

  • Gerald Darmanin

  • Stade de France

  • liverpool

  • Soccer