English fans scapegoated for the fiasco surrounding the Champions League final to "divert attention" from organisational failures, a scathing French Senate report says.
The showcase event of European football, the final of the Champions League, was marred by numerous incidents at the Stade de France in the northern suburbs of Paris on Saturday night. Hundreds of Liverpool fans were 'kettled', blocked at the entrance to the stadium, and then tear or pepper gassed by police officers before the club's match with Real Madrid. As Ilyes Ramdani writes in this opinion article, this failure comes on the back of years spent by the French public authorities pursuing a repressive, incompetent and often violent approach to maintaining order at public events.
UEFA and French police have blamed Liverpool fans for the delayed kick-off at the Champions League final - but British police say Reds supporters' behaviour was "exemplary".
Telecoms giant SFR has reportedly agreed to pay 350 million euros per year for the rights to broadcast the top-flight pan-European football competition, beating French rival Canal Plus and Qatari-controlled beIN Sports.
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