Chaos reigns in Paris, as the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid was postponed by 36 minutes amid scary scenes outside the Stade de France, in which poor organization led to dangerously crushed fans and then repulsed with pepper spray and tear gas as the obstacles developed more than two hours before the start.
After tumultuous scenes that ruined the Euro 2020 final at Wembley last summer, UEFA’s organization was back in the spotlight and the accusation game began on Saturday night, with French Interior Minister Gerard Darmanin blaming “British fans” without tickets, apparently without knowing or ignoring how the police’s own disorganization and incompetence started the initial bedlam.
Thousands of Liverpool fans and families of players were engulfed in the crowd as they failed to enter the stadium in time for the scheduled start time as riot police used tear gas and pepper spray against children and the elderly.
German television reported that Marvin Matip, the brother of Liverpool defender Joel, had to flee with his family and his pregnant wife as they tried to gain access to the stadium because of tear gas used by police.
Liverpool’s 1981 European Cup winner Alan Kennedy, who had to be helped through a fence near the stadium to avoid trouble. Spanish Sports Minister Jose Manuel Franco was caught in the dangerous scenes, confirming that it took more than an hour to walk the last 100 meters to the stadium.
Police use tear gas against fans outside the Champions League final at the Stade de France.
Supporters were left crammed into cramped spaces, creating alarming situations with cramped spaces
A fan is pictured being detained by police and a steward during the ugly chaos
UEFA later said that fans with fake tickets at the end of Liverpool had caused a blockade because the barcodes of the fake tickets did not work on the turnstiles, which caused fans to turn their backs.
Still, the main initial neck of the bottle was caused by police parking vans on a wide pavement, which reduced it to 2-3 meters entrance, which fans then had to move around the vans near Gate X.
At the time, it had nothing to do with fake tickets and was 50 meters from the stadium and the end of Liverpool. Although they were told that a dangerous clash was intensifying, police said they could not move the vans and were waiting for permission from the commanders to do so.
Fans begged them to ease the situation, but to no avail. It all happened at 19:00, two hours before the start, and most of the fans arrived on time and were close to the end of Liverpool.
Officers were caught on camera watching the crowd around the stadium
The land in Paris on Friday was eerily quiet, in stark contrast to Saturday’s chaos
A later announcement in the stadium will claim that the match has been postponed, blaming the late arrival of fans.
This was described as ‘bulls ** t’ by TV personality Gary Lineker, who was among the many people trapped. “I’m not sure there could be a worse event if you try,” he tweeted. – Absolutely ugly and dangerous.
UEFA will face serious questions after another illustrative case fails. There were scenes of violence in last summer’s Euro 2020 final between England and Italy at Wembley, while both of their other club finals this month, Rangers vs. Eintracht Frankfurt in Seville and Roma-Feyenoord in Tirana, faced problems with the audience.
After the chaos of Euro 2020, it was assumed that fans without tickets or with fake tickets would not get close to the ground. Again, as at Wembley, the fans managed to get a few meters from the gates before checking the tickets, where the stewards were overloaded.
The problems began earlier in the evening, when traffic delays and thorough inspections of the stadium led to overcrowding, with many gates and entrances closed and police conducting a catering operation, directing fans on narrow routes.
Due to the accumulation at the end of Liverpool, fans were forced to walk on a sidewalk, two people wide, which was obstructed by road works, to gate N, which was the opposite end of the field.
The tension got out of control, which delayed the start of the final twice
It was visibly quiet at the end of the Liverpool pitch as supporters struggled to take their seats.
Paths and gates in the ground were closed and thousands were closed in a small area with only one gate open – Gate N. However, it was impossible to get so many people through a narrow gate, and authorities seemed to close the gates for fear that fans were inside. with a forged ticket.
There were also crushed Gate A and Gate Y at the end of Liverpool.
French Interior Minister Darmanin accused “thousands of British” supporters “, without tickets or with fake tickets, of forced entry and sometimes attacked stewards”.
Tweeting about the security of the stadium’s security box, he seemed unaware of the situation on the pitch, and police targeting of supporters created initial chaos.
Liverpool have issued a statement saying: “We are extremely disappointed with the problems with entering the stadium and the breach of the security perimeter that Liverpool fans faced tonight at the Stade de France.
“This is the greatest match in European football and the fans should not experience the scenes we witnessed tonight.
“We have officially requested a formal investigation into the causes of these unacceptable problems.”
A large message announcing that the match had been postponed was shown inside the hall
Finding it impossible to enter the ground. This seems very dangerous. Absolute carnage.
– Gary Lineker @ (@GaryLineker) May 28, 2022
They insisted that they had raised security concerns with UEFA before the match and completely rejected UEFA’s claim that the fans had arrived late.
Some of the supporters who had paid £ 125 for a ticket eventually gave up trying to get in to see their team play in their third Champions League final in five years, and Liverpool ended shortly before the match. started at 20.36 (21.36 local time), which was to start at 20.00.
It is estimated that up to 80,000 Liverpool fans have traveled to Paris, although many have agreed that they will not be able to receive tickets for the match at the stadium with a capacity of 71,000, of which 22,000 were distributed to Liverpool.
Social media posts depicted scenes of serious congestion, with Liverpool fans barely able to move outside door A, where they had to enter.
At Gate Y, just outside of Liverpool, fans, including children and the elderly, complained that they were stuck for two hours when they were sprayed with pepper.
The riot police were deployed after the initial drama in an attempt to restore some order outside
Fans were left waiting in front of the turnstiles as the start of the big revelation quickly approached
There were also reports of French gangs causing confusion by organizing attacks on fans. Tear gas continued to be used off the ground in the first half as frustrated fans were unable to enter.
Disturbing scenes were broadcast of Liverpool fans wearing red T-shirts pressed against the gates with eyes emitting a combination of fear and tear gas.
An observer, Steve Douglas, tweeted, “I was tied up in a security hut, told to remove my accreditation, and then forced to delete videos of the crowd’s problems, otherwise they wouldn’t let me in.”
Lubrication was so bad in places where fans boarded parked vehicles to protect themselves. Police closed the Stade de France by closing all entry and exit points to the hall with the words of a UEFA security officer; “It’s safer for you inside now than outside.”
A reporter claims that police confiscated his media pass and forced him to delete a video of fans spraying pepper before returning it.
Police officers and stewards kept a keen eye on fans as they went through security checks
There were problems in the fan zone in the center of Paris with the police, accused of being cruel by hitting crowds with batons and anti-riot tools.
Eyewitness Mark Ward captured the problem in front of the camera, saying: “The French police have only one form of action, aggression and violence. I’ve covered hundreds of events and I don’t think I ever thought they did any good.
UEFA tried to stay calm by first announcing a 15-minute delay due to what they called “security considerations”, then extending to half an hour, and finally starting after that.
The UEFA statement also seems to want to shift the blame on the fans: “At the beginning of the match, the turnstiles at the end of Liverpool were blocked by thousands of fans who bought fake tickets that do not work in the turnstiles. This created an accumulation of fans trying to get in. As a result, the start was postponed by 35 minutes to allow as many fans with real tickets as possible to gain access.
“As the numbers outside the stadium continued to pile up after the start, the police sprayed them with tear gas and pushed them out of the stadium.
One supporter was presented visibly disappointed with the treatment before the clash with the stars
“UEFA sympathizes with those affected and will review these issues urgently with the French police and authorities and the French Football Federation.”
It was recently revealed that Liverpool and Real Madrid received only 20,000 tickets for the show, although the venue has a capacity of 80,000.
RMC claims that at the entrance to Gate U, several supporters were ready to go through the first screening before pushing people to move into the crowd. This was controlled by the police, but then several recurrences occurred.
The publication says that every form of filtering has …
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