Stade de France: in the Senate, Liverpool supporters call on Darmanin to resign

Europe 1 with AFP 8:36 p.m., June 21, 2022

Liverpool supporters heard in the Senate on the security fiasco of the Champions League final called on Tuesday Gérald Darmanin to resign, castigating the "endless lies" of the Minister of the Interior, who had initially pointed the finger at the responsibility of the English fans.

"You, Sir, have humiliated the people of Paris. Your endless lies and false stories have only amplified our trauma," said Ted Morris, representative of the Liverpool Disabled Supporters Association, present at the Stadium. de France on the day of this final disrupted by serious dysfunctions in the organization.

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Darmanin castigated England fans after the final

"I ask you to withdraw your savage and baseless accusations and, if you do not have the decency to do so, you must choose the most honorable solution and resign", he launched in front of the senatorial delegation which board about these incidents.

In the hours following the meeting, Gérald Darmanin had castigated the English supporters, presenting the thesis of a "massive, industrial and organized fraud of counterfeit tickets" creating disorder.

Then, during his hearing before the Senate on June 1, the Minister of the Interior had sketched a mea culpa while maintaining the controversial figure of “35,000 supporters” provided, according to him, with falsified tickets or without tickets.

Before the senators on Tuesday afternoon, Ted Morris read the testimonies of several disabled supporters "traumatized" by these incidents, victims of robberies or attacks by local gangs in Saint-Denis or sprayed with tear gas by the forces of the 'order.

“I will never forgive the authorities who are responsible”

"It's the most terrifying experience I've ever had in Europe with Liverpool," he said.

"I will never forgive the authorities who are totally responsible," he continued, recalling the trauma experienced in 1989 by Liverpool in Hillsborough, where a gigantic crowd movement had caused the death of 97 supporters.

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Member of the "Spirit of Shankly" supporters group, Joe Blott also asked the French authorities to "withdraw" their accusations and present "a full apology", pointing to France's damaged reputation as a host country of major sporting events. .

"To ensure the safety of supporters at the Rugby World Cup (in 2023, editor's note) and at the Olympic Games (2024) in the coming years, there needs to be a full, independent and transparent investigation so that the world regains confidence in the ability of France to organize planetary sporting events", he asserted.