Arriving at the Stade de France on the evening of the Champions League final, Saturday May 28, Steve Rotheram had described on social networks “chaotic scenes”, “a total lack of control”.
The scenes outside the Stade De France are completely chaotic, with a total breakdown of control and communication outside the ground. All relevant authorities must be held accountable for this failure.
—Steve Rotheram (@MetroMayorSteve) May 28, 2022
“All relevant authorities must be held accountable for this failure,” had also written the mayor of the agglomeration of Liverpool, after the chaotic scenes of supporters and families sprayed with tear gas by the police or spectators without tickets climbing the gates.
>> Incidents at the Stade de France: follow the hearing in the Senate in our live
And then nothing, for two days the Labor elected official had not spoken on the subject.
Steve Rotheram gave the explanation for this silence itself. Like many others, his cell phone was stolen that night. At the same time as his bank cards, his cash and his ticket for the match.
Sorry if I’ve been quiet since Saturday but, like too many others, I had my phone and other belongings stolen by dippers on the approach to the stadium. If you need to contact me while I sort a new phone, my DMs are open.
I’ll have much more to say shortly.
—Steve Rotheram (@MetroMayorSteve) May 30, 2022
If he testifies Thursday, June 9, before the French Senate, it is with a precise idea in mind, he entrusted it to ITV: “I want as many people as possible in France to know what really happened. Not the distorted truth of the Minister of the Interior who immediately came out with false statements.” On franceinfo, two days after the hearing of the Minister of the Interior by the same senators, the Briton had already denounced “the lies of Gérald Darmanin” and “the seriousness of the accusations against English supporters”.
In front of French elected officials, Steve Rotheram will tell, by videoconference, what he experienced as a supporter twelve days ago in Saint-Denis. He will be heard in the afternoon, after the expected explanations from the Paris police chief Didier Lallement and officials from the French Football Federation, also interviewed.
>> Incidents at the Stade de France: what to remember from the hearing of ministers Gérald Darmanin in the Senate
Steve Rotheram has the meaning of the formula. He says today that the Stade de France pickpockets were much better organized than UEFA and the police. The 30,000 to 40,000 fake notes put forward by the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, to justify this chaos? A far-fetched assertion for Steve Rotheram. Opposing Boris Johnson, whom he regularly calls a liar, he says with a disappointed smile: “I realize today that this type of behavior is not reserved for the UK”.