French Minister: Liverpool fans were the cause of the Champions League final problems
The French sports minister said on Monday that Liverpool fans without valid tickets had caused crowd problems ahead of the Champions League final, while the problem was exacerbated later by local youths trying to storm the stadium to attend the match.
Some French far-right politicians such as Eric Zemmour said the crowd problems in Saturday's Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid were caused mainly by local youths from the suburb of Saint-Denis near Paris.
"What we really have to bear in mind is that what happened first and foremost was this massive gathering of British fans of Liverpool FC without tickets or with fake tickets," French Sports Minister Amelie Odea-Castera said.
"When there are a lot of people at the entrance to the stadium, there will be people trying to force their way through the gates of the Stade de France, and a certain number of young people from the vicinity who were present tried to enter among these crowds," she told French radio station RTL.
The start of the match was delayed by 35 minutes after police tried to stop fans trying to make their way to the French National Stadium without tickets, while some ticket holders complained that they were not allowed to enter.
Television images showed young men, apparently not wearing Liverpool's red shirts, jumping at the stadium gates and running away.
A Reuters witness said that security forces fired tear gas at others outside the stadium, some of them children.
Britain's technology minister, Chris Philip, said the scenes shocked him.
"I was horrified to see these images of fans, including children and the disabled, being sprayed with pepper spray by the French police, and from the images I saw there was no clear justification for this kind of behaviour," he added.
The chaotic scenes in the French National Stadium caused national embarrassment, as France is set to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup and the 2024 Olympic Games.
Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan said the manner in which Liverpool fans were treated is "unacceptable" and called on the European Union (UEFA) to open a comprehensive and transparent investigation into the incident.
British Sports Minister Nadine Doris also urged UEFA to open an investigation.
French Sports Minister Odea-Castera said that there were no problems from Real Madrid's fans in Saturday's match, adding that Real Madrid managed to control its fans better than Liverpool.
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