Dylan Bettencourt
French authorities admitted that they made costly mistakes in the violence that erupted before the Uefa Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid.
The French Football Federation’s director of institutional relations Erwan Le Prevost revealed that the CCTV footage of the clashes between Liverpool supporters and French police was destroyed a week after the game.
While the French police pointed fingers at the Liverpool fans for inciting the unrest due to thousands of fans having counterfeit tickets, Le Prevost had no video or photographic evidence to prove this.
He claimed that the footage is automatically destroyed after seven days unless local authorities demand otherwise.
Members of the Senate committee investigating the incident were not pleased with local police.
Committee chairman François-Noël Buffet said this should raise serious concern within the police.
“If it is true that the images have not been preserved, that would pose a serious problem,” he said.
Paris police chief Didier Lallement backtracked on his comments days after the final, where he claimed around 3,000 Liverpool fans came to the Stade de France with fake tickets.
“Perhaps I was mistaken in the figure I gave to the minister. I never claimed that the figure was perfectly correct but it seemed to reflect the situation around the stadium,” he said.
Lallement admitted the entire incident was a failure as people were attacked while the police had the responsibility of keeping them safe,” he said.
“It is also a failure because the image of the country has been affected.”
However, Lallement defended the use of teargas, adding that he called for the gas to be used.
“I am sorry but there were no other means,” he explained.
The Paris police chief stood by his stance that the counterfeit tickets were the main cause of the violence that erupted on 28 May.
