Champions League final chaos: Ticketless Liverpool fans blamed by French Sports Minister for initial crowd issues | Football News

French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said on Monday that large numbers of Liverpool fans who turned up without valid tickets were responsible for the initial crowd control problems at the Champions League final.

Saturday’s game at the Stade de France between Liverpool and Real Madrid kicked off with a 36-minute delay after police tried to hold back people attempting to force their way into the French national stadium without tickets, while some ticket holders complained they were not let in.

“What happened, first of all, was this mass gathering of the British supporters of the Liverpool club, without tickets, or with fake tickets,” she told French radio RTL on Monday.

UEFA blamed “thousands of fans with fake tickets” for causing delays, while UK Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries and Liverpool called for a formal investigation into what caused the chaos.

Sky Sports News’ chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol was among those who were targeted with tear gas as the chaos continued before the final.

Culture minister: No obvious justification for French police behaviour

There was “no obvious justification” for the kind of behaviour shown by French police in Paris, culture minister Chris Philp has said.

Speaking to Sky News, Philp said: “I was horrified to see those pictures of fans, including some children, disabled fans, being pepper-sprayed by French police.

“And from the pictures I saw there was no obvious justification for that kind of behaviour. So Nadine (Dorries), I think is quite right to call for Uefa to urgently investigate exactly what happened there because we don’t want to see football fans, least of all children and disabled fans, being pepper-sprayed by police in the way that we saw.

“So, I really am concerned by it, the government are as well, and we need Uefa to properly investigate exactly what happened and get to the bottom of it.”

When asked about suggestions Liverpool football fans did not have tickets and were pushing their way in, Mr Philp said: “As I say, we need to get this properly looked into so we understand exactly what happened. But as I say, I saw
footage of fans behaving in a perfectly calm way, getting pepper-sprayed, and that just strikes me looking at those pictures as not appropriate.”

‘UEFA and French authorities should hang their heads in shame’

When asked why he thought French authorities were blaming Liverpool football fans for the chaos, Labour MP Ian Byrne, who attended the game, told Sky News: “It’s the easy thing to do.

“We’re back in 1989 territory where the lies and smears about Hillsborough went out really quickly and that narrative was set.

“When I got into the grounds I was absolutely appalled when I saw the signs saying it was due to the late arrival of fans.

“There were people who had been there three-and-a-half hours who were kettled in, getting pepper-sprayed, tear-gassed – this was a football occasion.

“We’ve all seen the footage, seen the photographs, and I just thank God this time that the journalists were there, the British journalists have covered it wonderfully well.

“But Uefa and the French authorities need to hang their heads in shame about what happened on Saturday night.”

Liverpool call for formal investigation

Citing ‘unacceptable issues’ for supporters, Liverpool had called for a formal investigation to probe what occurred outside the stadium before UEFA released its statement.

“We are hugely disappointed at the stadium entry issues and breakdown of the security perimeter that Liverpool fans faced this evening at Stade de France,” the club said. “This is the greatest match in European football and supporters should not have to experience the scenes we have witnessed tonight.

“We have officially requested a formal investigation into the causes of these unacceptable issues.”

Culture Secretary Dorries described the scenes outside the Stade de France as “deeply concerning” as she joined the Premier League club’s calls for UEFA to investigate the events of Saturday evening.

“It is in the interests of everyone involved to understand what happened and to learn lessons from these events,” she said in a statement.

What did UEFA say?

The statement issued by UEFA shortly before the end of the game – in which Real Madrid beat Liverpool 1-0 – said: “In the lead-up to the game, the turnstiles at the Liverpool end became blocked by thousands of fans who had purchased fake tickets which did not work in the turnstiles.

“This created a build-up of fans trying to get in. As a result, the kick-off was delayed by 35 minutes to allow as many fans as possible with genuine tickets to gain access.

“As numbers outside the stadium continued to build up after kick-off, the police dispersed them with tear gas and forced them away from the stadium.

“UEFA is sympathetic to those affected by these events and will further review these matters urgently together with the French police and authorities, and with the French Football Federation.”

Stadium authorities initially blamed a delayed kick-off on the “late arrival” of fans for the showpiece event.

That version of events was fiercely disputed by those in attendance in Paris, including Sky Sports journalists and reporters inside the stadium.

“It seems to me that the whole policing operation before this game was ineffective,” Solhekol concluded. “It was not done properly.”

Stadium authorities blame ‘late arrivals’ despite hours-long queues

An announcement posted on the big screens inside the Stade de France initially blamed fans for the kick-off delay, with the message reading: “Due to the late arrival of fans at the stadium, the match has been delayed.”

But Sky Sports News’ senior reporter Melissa Reddy countered: “Supporters have been queuing for over two hours outside. There are countless witness accounts of how this evening has unfolded amid horrid organisation.”

Reddy had already tweeted almost 40 minutes before the scheduled kick-off time of 8pm: “Reports from those stuck outside the stadium – and footage feeding through as well – of poor organisation and communication, dangerously narrow routes with police vans further unnecessarily blocking space. All of it creating an uncomfortable, unwanted situation.”

Sky Sports presenter Kelly Cates, attending the final as a supporter, had also tweeted: “Absolutely shambolic at the Stade de France. No way in, no way of knowing which way to go. Stay safe if you’re heading in… It has the potential to be very dangerous.”

Former England captain Gary Lineker posted: “I’m not sure it’s possible to have a more poorly organised event if you tried. Absolutely shambolic and dangerous.”

What happened outside the ground?

Ahead of kick-off, some fans were filmed scaling the outside perimeter of the Stade de France to gain access.

The Associated Press reported ‘sporadic instances of fans, apparently without tickets, breaking through security and attempting to get into the stadium’.

The agency reported seeing two fans – one wearing Liverpool attire – wrestled to the ground by stewards and bundled out of the gates. Another fan evaded stewards and was seen sprinting through the concourse and into the bottom level of the stadium.

Solhekol: We were tear-gassed for no reason

Sky Sports News’ Kaveh Solhekol at the Stade de France

“In the last few minutes, me and three of my crew were tear-gassed for no reason whatsoever by the French police. It was a pretty nasty experience but we sorted it out by getting a few bottles of water and pouring it in our eyes. We are all fine.

“The situation here is a bit of a strange one. I think what has happened is a lot of people have turned up at the stadium without tickets. They seem to be young, French people just milling around and trying to break through the security cordons.

“From what I’ve seen, even at the Liverpool fan park, the French police’s attitude has been very heavy-handed with absolutely zero tolerance. They don’t care how much of a crush is developing and they are insisting on searching absolutely everybody before they let them through.

“We had a situation at the fan park this afternoon where some Liverpool fans were queuing up for three hours to get into a free event. There were three, four, five checkpoints where they were being held up and searched.

“We had the same situation at the stadium tonight. There are so many police, riot police and security guards here and their mindset has been to stop anybody without a ticket getting anywhere near the stadium.

“The situation is complicated because we’re not just talking about paper tickets, we’re talking about in the modern age, people have passes on their phones. They haven’t been able to bring up the right passes or find their passwords. We’ve seen people in tears because they’ve had their tickets swiped from them. People have had their electronic tickets stolen from them.

“As far as the police and security here [at the Stade de France] are concerned, they don’t care. They don’t want anybody near the stadium if they don’t have tickets. I’m walking around the streets now and it’s full of young, French people trying to find a way to get inside the security cordon.

“I can only say from what I’ve seen as an eyewitness myself, but I haven’t seen any Liverpool supporters whatsoever causing any problem at all. I haven’t seen them turning up late, I was quite shocked at how early supporters had turned up at the stadium.

“We got here about four hours before kick-off, expecting it to be quite quiet. But it felt like it was an hour before kick-off because so many people had arrived early and in good time. I would be very wary when I read statements from UEFA blaming the kick-off being delayed and the problems outside the stadium on the late arrival of fans. That is not the case from what I have seen.

“I have seen quite a few fans trying to trick their way past security guards and the policemen and all of those supporters I’ve seen trying to do that are Spanish. It was one of those incidents we got caught up in when we were tear-gassed, a group of riot police were trying to eject some Real Madrid supporters who were trying to get through the cordon without tickets.

“There was a bit of a confrontation between the Spanish supporters and the riot police, and that’s when they got out the tear gas and we happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“But I have to stress again – with my own eyes, I haven’t seen any Liverpool supporters causing any problems or trouble whatsoever.”

Majority of fans behaved in ‘exemplary manner’ – Merseyside Police

Merseyside Police say they will pass on their observations from Saturday’s Champions League final chaos after Liverpool requested a formal investigation from UEFA.

Officers from Merseyside were deployed in France to work with local officers, and “they have reported the vast majority of fans behaved in an exemplary manner”.

Assistant Chief Constable Chris Green said: Our officers returning today will conduct a formal debrief to ensure that we can fully support any subsequent investigation following last night’s game.

“We know that people would have witnessed a lot of distressing scenes last night and we wish everyone returning home from Paris a safe journey. Our focus today will be supporting Liverpool city council with the policing of the homecoming parade.”