The controversy mounted on Sunday around the responsibilities of each in the organizational hiccups of the Champions League final at the Stade de France, while incidents on the sidelines of the meeting gave rise to 68 arrests.
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“We avoided the tragedy”, estimates Jérôme Alonzo, franceinfo football consultant and former goalkeeper this Sunday on franceinfo after the Champions League final. A match between Liverpool and Real Madrid, which was won by the Spaniards. The final took place at the Stade de France, near Paris and started more than thirty minutes late due to incidents at the entrance to the stadium before the match.
>> Champions League: forced screening, climbed barriers, counterfeit tickets … What we know about the incidents that delayed the final
Scrambles and crowd movements occurred as fans without tickets, or with fake tickets, tried to break through screening points to enter the stadium. 34,000 Spanish and English supporters gathered in the two fan zones in Paris and Saint-Denis.
“I am happy that we avoided the tragedy”he said. “When I saw the images I saw, no serious injuries in this story, it’s a miracle”believes the former goalkeeper. “It is deplorable.” He describes “people stuck behind fences, with children, families”. “It’s cold in the back”, he concludes. These incidents echo in particular the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. 97 people died in a stampede at the entrance to the stadium before the match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.
The Liverpool club has requested an investigation. “It’s the biggest game in European football and the fans shouldn’t have to go through the kind of scene we saw on (Saturday) night”the club said in a statement. “It’s the image of France as a whole”recognizes the franceinfo consultant, “just happy” having “avoided a tragedy”.
The Champions League final originally scheduled for Saint Petersburg had been relocated to the Stade de France, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24. The French authorities have only had three months to prepare for the event instead of eighteen, the period provided for in UEFA’s specifications.