Champions final, Paris police chief admits: “A failure”

Didier Lallement apologized for using tear gas on Liverpool fans but said he has no alternative.

The public order management of the Champions League Final continues to be discussed. And the official apologies from the Paris Police arrived during a hearing in the French Senate aimed at clarifying what happened at the Stade de France on the occasion of Real Madrid – Liverpool.

Didier Lallement, Paris police chief, as reported by Le Parisien, apologized for using tear gas on Liverpool fans, but said he had no alternative. However, he admitted that the security operation failed. “A failure. People were pushed around or attacked despite having to ensure their safety, however the use of tear gas outside the stadium was the only means they had to convince the crowd to turn back without having to resort to charges,” a choice that could have had a devastating effect. If we had not dispersed the crowd, some people could have died in the crowd. I am fully aware that among those people there were also families and people in absolute good faith. I’m very sorry. But there was no other way. “

The feeling is that the apologies are only the first act of a story destined to leave indelible traces on various national and local authorities. Many fans have shared videos showing the use of pepper spray. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin was harshly criticized and the police chief himself was unaware that many tickets in possession of the fans were fake. The incident away from the Stade de France was also addressed at the hearing. In Saint Denis there have been several cases related to public order with small gangs who, after the game, waited and snatched the fans, threatening them with knives. One of the victims was Liverpool Mayor Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool Metropolitan Region whose phone was stolen outside the stadium. Lallement pledged to do everything possible to find those responsible for the post-match violence and bring them to justice and encouraged British and Spanish citizens to file a complaint to help find and punish those responsible.