No tear gas at the Olympics (nd-aktuell.de)

The chaotic organization and the brutal police action against football fans on the sidelines of the Champions League final last Saturday in Paris are now also having political consequences. Above all, after the scenes, watched live by more than 400 million TV viewers worldwide, the question arises as to whether France can guarantee the safety of the 2024 Olympic Games.

The game between Real Madrid and Liverpool should serve as a test for this. In the end it became an international embarrassment. The European football union Uefa and the French police blamed British fans without or with counterfeit tickets for the fact that thousands of people were backed up at pre-checkpoints between the Stade de France train station and the stadium in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. Added to this was the fact that members of criminal gangs from Saint-Denis, who took advantage of the crowd for pickpocketing, also mingled with the fans.

In order to disperse the ever-growing crowd of people, quite a few of whom had also attacked stewards, police officers not only used rubber truncheons but also tear gas. According to the police, which was deployed with 7,000 officers, 238 people were injured and 108 temporarily arrested. Although the start of the game was postponed by more than half an hour, many fans with valid tickets did not come to the stadium because the gates at the entrances were closed early due to the unclear situation.

British media then reported with relish on the disaster of the French security forces. They quoted Liverpool MP Ian Byrne, who was there himself, as tweeting: “I’ve just had one of the worst experiences of my life. The horrific security measures have put lives at risk.«

Domestically, too, criticism from the opposition rained down in the middle of the parliamentary election campaign: Jean-Luc Mélenchon, founder of the left-wing movement La France insoumise, said: “France gave a miserable picture. If there was a security strategy, the result was a disaster.« The police had once again shown their typical side: »with violence and arbitrariness«.

The far-right Marine Le Pen, leader of the Rassemblement National, had, as usual, identified other culprits whom she blamed: the riots were due equally to “rascals” from Liverpool and Saint-Denis. The image presented to the world was “shameful” and it was “questionable whether France would be able to organize and secure events like the Olympic Games under today’s conditions”. At least with the last remark she wasn’t alone.

Aurore Bergé, sports policy spokeswoman for the governing party LREM, pointed out that the final game was originally supposed to be played in Saint Petersburg and had been moved at short notice as part of the sanctions against Russia. Paris therefore only had three months, while the preparations are usually scheduled for a year.

France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin and Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra still had to spend two hours answering questions from a committee of inquiry in the Senate on Wednesday. Darmanin explained that 75,000 tickets had been sold for the game, but that 110,000 spectators had turned up. Up to 40,000 fans – mostly from England – would have caused chaos when trying to gain entry without valid tickets.

Government promises new regulations

The minister admitted that police actions were often “inappropriate and disproportionate”. He apologized and announced that “fundamentally changed regulations will be issued and safety precautions will be taken” for the preparations for the Olympics. The use of tear gas is excluded. He assured that France “is quite capable of organizing and securing major international events”.

This was also emphasized by government spokeswoman Olivia Grégoire. She also emphasized that “no serious injuries, let alone loss of life, were reported”. Nevertheless, President Emmanuel Macron called for a “complete investigation” into the incidents in Saint-Denis and reliable measures “so that something like this never happens again”.