How to explain these incidents? After the Champions League final marked by scenes of violence near the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Saturday May 28, CAmille Chaize, spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior, acknowledged “disorganizations, dysfunctions that must be analyzed to draw conclusions and so that it does not happen again“. Like the prefect of police of Paris, the ministry denounces counterfeit notes “in numbers that were sold on the black market. It’s really the trigger”.
>> Champions League final: why the version of the French authorities and UEFA, which invoke the circulation of counterfeit tickets, is disputed
But for the Liverpool supporters, who had made the trip to support their team – finally beaten 1-0 by Real Madrid -, widely singled out after the incidents, did not take off: the Reds supporters who had their ticket in their pocket had a terrible time getting into the enclosure.
On Sunday, at the Gare du Nord in Paris, on their way back, many of them were disgusted with what they saw and did not hide their annoyance at the accusations of violence. Ben is part of it. This regular in the Champions League finals – he has already lived through five – claims to have never seen such a mess. And he defends his acolytes: Liverpool supporters are not the cause of the disorder. “Young French people, they were young French people! I didn’t see any England supporters trying to scale the barriers. I only saw locals trying to climb, push the doors, go through all the means“, he denounces, visibly disappointed.
Michael admits to having been completely lost. “There were no instructions, no place to know where to go, so we followed the crowd. The French police blocked the main entrance, there were a lot of police or soldiers with weapons. But they didn’t help us, they didn’t talk to us!” Michael is bitter, still shocked. “I saw the police beating people with truncheons. There were also ‘locals’ hovering around us, some trying to rob us, to snatch our tickets. Horrible experience!” For this supporter, this match is by far the worst he has experienced. “I attended matches in Ukraine, or in Madrid, for example. It was much better organized than that. It was scary, horrible. A real shame!”
Same observation made by Shane, another Liverpool supporter. It took more than an hour to enter the Stade de France. And the criticisms against the English supporters annoy him. “From what I saw, it was French people who climbed the barriers and entered the stadium. Liverpool supporters behaved very well. I really think so. And I also think it was locals who caused all of this mess. I haven’t seen any Liverpool supporters creating any problems. No Liverpool supporters made a mess before the match! We were in parks, having drinks and having fun with each other…“
The latter assures him: after this catastrophic evening at the Stade de France, he will not return to see a match in Paris in the coming years.