The chaos surrounding the Champions League final in Paris between Real Madrid and Liverpool has been caused by a “malfunctioning organization at all levels”. That is the conclusion of the senate committee that investigated the disorder in which the police used tear gas to chase fans of Liverpool in particular, who were not allowed to enter the stadium despite possessing a valid ticket.
Due to the disturbances, in which people without a ticket would also have tried to enter the Stade de France, the match started with more than half an hour delay. More than 100 people were arrested and 230 people were injured. French authorities initially blamed Liverpool fans.
“The dysfunction happened at all levels, not only during and shortly before the competition, but also in the preparation. There was a lack of coordination between the various services involved,” said committee chairman Laurent Lafon, referring to the lack of cooperation between more police, security and public transport managers. “One of the things that went wrong was that a transport strike was not anticipated, causing fans to arrive at the stadium in different ways than planned,” said Lafon. Security guards and officers were also not properly instructed and checkpoints caused congestion.
The researchers thus refuted previous suggestions from, among others, the French minister Gerald Darmanin, who had named a large-scale fraud involving tickets as the main cause and pointed emphatically to British fans as the culprits. “That certainly cannot be mentioned as one of the main causes for the incidents,” said Lafon.