UEFA and its “primary responsibility” in the malfunctions, the police and its “misconceptions” about English supporters … The security fiasco of the 2022 Champions League final at the Stade de France gave birth to a report on Monday vitriol, following an independent investigation.
The European body, organizer of the final of the queen event of the old continent, ” bears primary responsibility for failures that nearly led to disaster “Last May at the Stade de France, concluded a group of experts on Monday February 13 in its report, to the point that UEFA reiterated its apologies in stride.
Endless wait, supporters and families sprayed with tear gas or victims of robbery … The device for maintaining order during this Champions League final took place on May 28, 2022 to scenes of chaos in Saint-Deniscausing a lively controversy in France and England.
The report also pinpoints the Prefecture of Police and the French Football Federation (FFF), to which UEFA had delegated certain organizational aspects after the withdrawal of the match in Saint Petersburg, due to the Russian invasion of the city. Ukraine, and its urgent reattribution to France.
” Even if it were reasonable to delegate security matters to others, first and foremost the FFF, and to refer to (…) the Prefecture of Police for matters of maintaining order, it does not follow not that UEFA is absolved of its responsibility. UEFA played a central role in the organization of the event and she should have monitored, supervised and contributed to the security measures “, argue the experts.
UEFA reiterates its apologies
“ Other stakeholders committed misconduct which contributed (to the incidents) but UEFA was in the driver’s seat during this Liverpool-Real Madrid final, they insist, criticizing the insufficient coordination between all stakeholders.
The European confederation immediately reiterated its excuses » to the supporters, promising to take into account the many recommendations made by the experts and to introduce ” appropriate changes “. ” On behalf of UEFA, I would like to sincerely apologize once again to all those involved in the incidents. “said its secretary general Theodore Theodoridis, quoted in a press release. ” In particular, I would like to apologize to the Liverpool supporters for what they have been through. “, he added.
The FFF is criticized by experts for its ” key role » in the organization of the event, as host federation. The report states ” communication failures in connection with the Prefecture of Police on the question of transport, which quickly caused bottlenecks when the supporters arrived. ” These flaws should not have occurred. And when they were detected, the FFF should have made them a priority “, point out the experts.
The use of tear gas criticized
The independent report finally castigates the poor reaction of the French security forces, arguing that the police’s use of tear gas and pepper spray had ” out of place at a football party “. The experts of this report, led by the former Portuguese Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, Tiago Brandao Rodrigues, said to themselves ” flabbergasted that the policing pattern of the match may have been influenced by the image of Liverpool supporters as hooligans, a ” inexplicable misconception “. ” The security approach … was based, inappropriately, on the assumption that Liverpool fans could pose a significant threat to public order “, they note again.
Contacted by AFP, the Ministry of the Interior did not comment.
The Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin had initially incriminated the British supporters with the many falsified tickets according to him, before the prefect Didier Lallement admitted to having ” maybe mistaken on their number, recognizing a “ failure “.
The independent experts appointed by UEFA for their part concluded on Monday that there was ” no evidence of an abnormally large number of fans without tickets or with invalid tickets », castigating the figures of the authorities, ” falsely inflated and exaggerated and suggesting that this exaggeration may have been intended to deflect responsibility for operational failures “.
A government report, for its part, had also pointed to police and organizational dysfunctions, at the end of this episode which damaged the image of France in the run-up to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
(With AFP)