“Sometimes unacceptable excesses have taken place” – Liberation

“It is obvious that this celebration of sport has been ruined and that we regret the sometimes unacceptable excesses that have taken place.” It is with a mini-pokey mea culpa that Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior, began his long speech during his hearing by the Senate this Wednesday, with the Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, after the Stade de France fiasco.

“Things could have been better organized” during the Champions League final, marred by numerous incidents at the Stade de France on Saturday, acknowledged the Minister of the Interior, nevertheless qualifying this slight setback in his defense by recalling that this is the event “who has mobilized the most police and gendarmes since[il est] Minister of the Interior”. Rejecting any criticism of the number of police forces present: “There were more than enough police personnel.”

British and Spanish citizens will be able to lodge a complaint in their country

Faced with strong criticism, Gérald Darmanin then unfolded the events, using small explanatory panels, and reaffirmed that “110,000 people” introduced themselves “around the Stade de France”. According to the Minister, two types of fraud took place: tickets were sold at 50 pounds to people who knew they were fake, while others bought tickets between 800 and 1200 euros on fake sites, thinking that they were real. The “British and Spanish citizens will be able to file a complaint in their country from Monday”also announced Gérald Darmanin.

Earlier in the day, the new government spokesperson, Olivia Grégoire, had assured at the end of the Council of Ministers that “the President of the Republic did not even need to remind that he fully supported his Minister of the Interior”.

More information to come…