English fans scapegoated for the fiasco surrounding the Champions League final to "divert attention" from organisational failures, a scathing French Senate report says.
Steve Rotheram, appearing on a vidiolink before a French Senate hearing into the chaos at the Stade de France on May 28th where he was himself present, said some police officers appeared to be 'looking to find a problem' with Liverpool supporters, adding that 'the day gradually transformed from a dream into a nightmare', and said he was shocked to hear that CCTV footage of the events was now destroyed.
The 'shambles outside the ground' of the Champions league final on Saturday between Liverpool and Real Madrid was 'a PR disaster for the French state, which may explain its attempt to shift the blame on to fans in a buck-passing exercise that was instantly derided and disproved' writes the chief football writer for The Times.
French interior minister Gérald Darmanin on Monday said the potentially dangerous bottleneck of tens of thousands of Liverpool fans on Saturday trying to enter the Stade de France for the Champions League cup final of their team against Real Madrid was due to 'industrial scale' ticket fraud, which he said 'only seems to happen with certain English clubs'.
Actionnaires directs et indirects : Société pour l’Indépendance de Mediapart, Fonds pour une Presse Libre, Association pour le droit de savoir
Rédaction et administration : 127 avenue Ledru-Rollin, 75011 Paris
Courriel : contact@mediapart.fr
Téléphone : + 33 (0) 1 44 68 99 08
Propriétaire, éditeur, imprimeur : Société Editrice de Mediapart
Abonnement : pour toute information, question ou conseil, le service abonnés de Mediapart peut être contacté par courriel à l’adresse : serviceabonnement@mediapart.fr ou par courrier à l'adresse : Service abonnés Mediapart, 11 place Charles de Gaulle 86000 Poitiers. Vous pouvez également adresser vos courriers à Société Editrice de Mediapart, 127 avenue Ledru-Rollin, 75011 Paris.
