France’s interior minister on Monday blamed massive ticket fraud for the chaotic scenes that marred the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid over the weekend, raising questions over the ability of Paris to host the 2024 Olympics and other sporting events. UEFA has announced an independent investigation into the incident.

The French government has faced a barrage of criticism from press and politicians both domestically and abroad over police handling of the match on Saturday, which saw thousands of Liverpool fans with tickets struggling to enter the stadium in scenes that eventually turned violent.

The final between Liverpool and Real Madrid on Saturday was postponed by more than 30 minutes as police used teargas to try to prevent people who did not have tickets from entering the stadium just north of Paris. Some ticket holders complained that they had only been allowed to enter the stadium for the second half of the match, which Real Madrid won 1-0.  

After a crisis meeting at the sports ministry on Monday, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin defiantly insisted that ticket scams and the bad behaviour of Liverpool fans were to blame.

“What has been confirmed is a massive, industrial-scale and organised fraud in fake tickets … this was the root cause of the delay to the match,” Darmanin said.

Liverpool Football Club said they were “hugely disappointed” by the treatment of their fans.

UEFA issued a statement during the match blaming “fake tickets which did not work in the turnstiles” for the problems in getting the crowd into the stadium.

In a tweet, France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin immediately blamed the Liverpool fans for the problems.

On Monday, he said there was a “massive, industrial-scale and organised fraud in fake tickets” and insisted there had been between 30,000 to 40,000 Liverpool fans with forged tickets or without tickets outside the Stade de France.

“This was the root cause of the delay to the match,” Darmanin said.

The claims have outraged Liverpool fans. “It’s a barefaced lie,” said Austin. “It would not be physically possible to get that many people plus the 80,000 inside into the area around the stadium.

“The French police brought violence to a peaceful event and it was a minor miracle that no-one died.”

Source: AFP