Razeen Gutta
France’s Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra has blamed Liverpool fans for stadium entry issues at the Uefa Champions League final at the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday.
The event’s security was heavily criticised by journalists and supporters alike, with many getting caught in the fire of pepper spray and tear gas set off by French police.
The events outside the stadium led to a 37-minute delay to kick off between Liverpool and Real Madrid, with the stadium half empty at the originally scheduled 9pm start time.
In response to the global backlash, the French minister called out Liverpool Football Club.
“What happened, first of all, was this mass gathering of the British supporters of the Liverpool club, without tickets, or with fake tickets.
“The fact that the Real Madrid club has supervised the coming of its supporters to Paris contrasted sharply with what the Liverpool club did, letting its supporters out in the wild,” Oudéa-Castéra told RTL.
Liverpool Football Club have issued a statement on their website requesting a formal investigation into events and fan group leaders are disappointed with the words of the French minister.
“There is a problem with how French authorities organised the game — and now they’re deflecting to Liverpool fans. They want to avoid taking responsibility for what happened,” said Ronan Evain, executive director of Football Supporters Europe.
“There is a refusal to acknowledge that the Liverpool fans are the victims here. They tear gassed elderly people and kids. You owe them an apology.”
The wife of Liverpool midfielder Thiago Alcantara, Julia Vigas, has also spoken out on her difficult experience, hitting out at the “lack of organisation and security”.
“Yesterday’s final was a total nightmare, and this is not about football, it goes far beyond the result. Due to a lack of organisation and security, there were so many scary moments,” Vigas wrote on Instagram.
“Tear gas was thrown by the police at families and supporters, and some of them also were beaten down. All of them are innocent people. Because of all this trouble, we had to leave the stadium escorted for our own safety.”
The French minister will meet with Uefa and local authorities later today to review occurrences and “draw lessons” from the event.
Image source: @BBC
