Paris

Who is to blame for the chaos outside the Stade de France in Paris on 28 May that caused the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool to be delayed by over half an hour – and may have come close to ending in the serious injury of fans? The French government and Uefa, the European football federation, have placed responsibility with tens of thousands of Liverpool fans allegedly attempting to enter the grounds without tickets. Gérald Darmanin, the French interior minister, tweeted – minutes after the end of the match – that: “Thousands of British ‘fans,’ without tickets or holding counterfeit tickets, forced their way in and sometimes assaulted the stewards.” A statement from the Paris police also blamed fans who did not have valid tickets. Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, the sports minister, put the number as high as 30,000 to 40,000. In a televised briefing on 30 May, Darmanin doubled down on the official line, claiming that “such events” happen “only with… certain English clubs”, while also apologising for how the match unfolded. Strike action worsened chaos at the Champions League final More fans than usual travelled via the RER D, causing dangerous overcrowding on the approach to the Stade de France. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(e){if(void 0!==e.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var a in e.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r

Paris

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