UEFA, organizer of the Champions League final, wears the “primary responsibility” serious incidents “which almost led to disaster” last May at the Stade de France, concluded Monday, February 13 a group of experts at the end of an independent investigation mandated by the European body.
“The group concluded that UEFA, as the owner of the event, bears primary responsibility for the failures which almost led to disaster”can we read in this long document, which also pinpoints the Prefecture of Police and the French Football Federation (FFF).
Breaches
“Even if it were reasonable to delegate security issues to others, primarily the FFF and to refer to (…) the Prefecture of Police for matters of maintaining order, it does not follow that UEFA be absolved of its responsibility. UEFA played a central role in the organization of the event and they should have watched, supervised and contributed to the security measures”argue the experts.
“The other stakeholders made mistakes which contributed (to the incidents) but UEFA was in the driver’s seat” during this Liverpool-Real Madrid final, they insist.
Endless waiting, supporters and families sprayed with tear gas or victims of robbery… The law enforcement system during this Champions League final in Saint-Denis had given rise to scenes of chaos, provoking a lively controversy in France and England.
Criticized use of tear gas by the police
The report also points to the poor reaction of the French security forces, arguing that the police’s use of tear gas and pepper spray had no “not at a place in a football party”.
Experts in the report, led by Portugal’s former minister for education, youth and sport, Tiago Brandao Rodrigues, said “stunned” that the policing pattern of the match may have been influenced by the image of Liverpool supporters as hooligans, a “unexplainable misconception”. “The security approach (…) was based, inappropriately, on the assumption that Liverpool supporters could pose a significant threat to public order”they note again.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin had initially incriminated British supporters with numerous falsified tickets according to him, before the prefect Didier Lallement admitted to having “maybe deceived” on their number, recognizing a ” failure “. A government report had pointed to police and organizational dysfunctions, at the end of an episode which damaged the image of France in view of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
