France denounces the “massive fraud of false tickets” for the Champions League final

The French Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, denounced this Monday “a massive and industrial fraud of false tickets” to see the Champions League final that was played on Saturday at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, on the outskirts of Paris . The final, between Liverpool and Real Madrid, started more than half an hour late and was marked by scenes of chaos around the stadium and violent robberies of fans by local youth gangs.

Far from making a self-criticism and recognizing his own mistakes in managing the flow of fans to the stadium and in police action, Darmanin threw balls out. He blamed “the disorganization in the reception of the British fans”, unlike that of the Spanish fans, which took place, according to the minister, in good conditions.

The head of the Interior attributed the scenes of chaos in the vicinity of the stadium to the fact that “between 30,000 and 40,000 Liverpool fans” who traveled to the Stade de France had “false tickets or had no ticket.” To this should be added that on Saturday there was a strike on one of the RER lines, the commuter train that leads to the stadium, which complicated access to the Stade de France and the management of the flow of fans.

Darmanin recalled that “the tickets are normally electronic”, but that at Liverpool’s request, they were printed entirely on paper, which, according to the minister, contributed to “massive and industrial fraud.” 70% of these tickets turned out to be false in the pre-control and 15% in the first control before entering the stadium, the French minister specified. On the other hand, most of the Real Madrid tickets were electronic, so there were no such problems.

The new Sports Minister, Amélia Oudéa-Castéra, wondered how it is possible that there has been such massive ticket fraud for this match and announced that UEFA is going to open an “in-depth” investigation into what happened.

The interior minister supported the Paris police prefect, Didier Lallement, who was widely criticized by the press, politicians and French fans for the fact that the police used tear gas in the presence of women and children to control the fans. “The worst was prevented thanks to law enforcement, stadium workers and private security agents,” he said.

After the fiasco of the Champions League final, Darmain and Oudéa-Castéra will appear before the Law and Culture commissions of the Senate. French senators seek to “determine responsibilities.” “15 months before the organization of the Rugby World Cup and 22 months before the celebration of the Paris Games, the incidents paint a sad image of France before the world and raise serious concerns about its ability to organize international competitions in safe conditions” .