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The police cracked down on the final – too harsh for many observers
Photo: Thomas Coex / AFP
In the hours and days after the chaos at the Champions League final in Paris between Liverpool and Real Madrid, those responsible primarily blamed the fans.
France's interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, primarily blamed the English.
He said that 30,000 to 40,000 fans turned up without valid tickets, causing a crowd at the stadium.
To date, this statement has not been proven.
The police later admitted that they were wrong.
"It was an obvious failure," said Didier Lallement, Paris police prefect, at a hearing in the French Senate's Interior Committee.
Above all, there is criticism of the high police presence, as well as the – in the opinion of many observers – premature use of pepper gas.
Police classified Liverpool fans as hooligans
Now it comes out why the police were there with so many personnel.
As the English "Guardian" reports, the French authorities classified the Liverpool fans as potential hooligans.
That's according to a 30-page report delivered to French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne's office by Michel Cadot, the French Ministry of Sport's commissioner for major sporting events.
The report states that Liverpool supporters are not actually known for violence.
But then comes the big »BUT«.
Cadot cites the Hillsborough disaster that killed 97 football fans in 1989.
The tragedy led to "a firm police regime" aimed at "maintaining order, with police officers on standby to respond to the threat of collective phenomena of hooliganism and devastation."
The Hillsborough tragedy killed 97 people
The Hillsborough tragedy is considered one of the worst tragedies in football history.
On April 15, 1989 at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool FC and Nottingham Forrest at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, people trampled to death in completely overcrowded blocks.
96 died immediately or in the days after.
A man who died in 2021 was declared the 97th victim of the accident due to "life-changing injuries".
766 people were injured.
For a long time, fans were blamed for the tragedy.
It was not until 27 years later that the jury of a commission of inquiry declared that serious mistakes by the police had caused the disaster - and not the misconduct of Liverpool fans.
The police should have opened the field earlier for the fans.
The trouble in Liverpool is great
The fact that the French authorities took this catastrophe as an opportunity to explain their rigorous action in Paris caused outrage among the families of the victims of the time.
Louise Brookes, whose 26-year-old brother died at the time, told the Guardian: "This is a complete, egregious failure.
And this prejudice that Liverpool fans are hooligans, based on a complete misunderstanding of something that happened 33 years ago, almost caused another disaster in Paris for a new generation of Liverpool fans.'
In his report, Cadot also referred to the thousands of Liverpool fans who rushed into the stadium without a ticket.
An accusation that the club continues to sharply reject.
The 0-1 defeat from Liverpool's point of view is becoming more and more in the background.
Uefa initially did not want to comment on the French report.
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