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A police officer sprays tear gas in front of the Stade de France
Photo: Matthias Hangst / Getty Images
After the chaos at the Stade de France around the Champions League final, the Paris police prefect admitted the failure of his authority.
"It was obviously a failure," Didier Lallement said at a hearing in the French Senate's Interior Committee.
Because people were attacked and the image of France was shaken.
However, it was made possible for the match between Liverpool FC and Real Madrid to take place and that there were no serious injuries or deaths.
Lallement said there was a large crowd around the stadium.
Finally, tear gas was used to push the people back because the people had not complied with the officials' requests.
"I'm aware that people with good intentions were also hit by the gas," said Lallement.
"I'm really sorry on behalf of the police prefecture, but I'll say it again, unfortunately there was no other way." Apart from direct physical attacks, tear gas was the only way the police could get crowds to retreat.
After the game that Real Madrid won 1-0 against Liverpool, France's Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin blamed Liverpool fans.
He said that 30,000 to 40,000 fans turned up without valid tickets, causing a crowd at the stadium.
There is no evidence for this representation.
The actual number of counterfeit tickets is probably much lower.
Uefa has the chaos investigated
The police in Paris registered more than 100 arrests and 230 injuries around the final at the end of May.
The European football union Uefa explained the chaos at the entrance to the high number of fans without valid tickets and commissioned an independent investigation report.
The kick-off time was pushed back by more than half an hour.
Fan representatives criticize a one-sided representation of Uefa, which then also asked for an apology.
"No football fan should be put in such a situation and it must not happen again," said a Uefa statement.
kjo/dpa
