Let’s get started with UEFA, from J’accuse. These are dangerous and shameless thieves. They are fortunate that their blood has not been spilled on them, despite the incompetent behavior they displayed at Stade de France Saturday night. You should have known. My life was thrown into chaos by Gate Y.
As security attempted to shut down the gate, I was next to a small and clearly distressed woman. As the panic began, I could see the worried look on Conor’s face, a 6ft 4in tall, fitness enthusiast, as she tried to close the gates.
We were fortunate, relative speaking. I shoved the security guard in front me and, thankfully, he was awakened from his robot daze. The security guard backed away and allowed the woman to pass. He backed off and let her through. She wept as she ran into the night.
Ours was the final person through the gate before the inexplicable act began of pepper spraying people and tear gassing them for waiting hours.
We took a moment to breathe. A man in his 20s stood next to us and held his hands out. He could not stop shaking. My 24-year old mild-mannered son pleaded for help from the stewards, who were just standing by. “People are going to starve if you do not take action!” He begged again and again. They refused to act.
It’s difficult to comprehend the extent of incompetence. At 6.15 p.m. Paris time, we arrived for the kick-off at 9 p.m. We were seated under a bridge, in the shade of the stadium. This was because the police decided that spectators would not be allowed through.
Sportsmail Derek Lawrenson was there for the Champions League Final Chaos.
After being pepper-sprayed, tear gassed fans and pepper-sprayed with pepper spray, UEFA has been criticised as incompetent
French pickpockets had it all. The father next to me had a clearly terrified son aged about 10 and looked very young.
As we moved at an almost snail’s pace, the fans were incredible. One point everyone gave up their discomfort in order to move for the man with a wheel chair.
We were still 45 minutes away from kick-off when we got through the crush. When we finally made it through the crush, we were proud to be there in time for Gate Y. Along with all those who had received a club ballot, they also joined us in the line.
We waited. We waited. There were sometimes only one or two gates open. Sometimes, there was none.
Some supporters appeared to be able to leap across the fences. Others were stuck in bottlenecks.
UEFA has not yet stated that the problem was caused by ticketless supporters or fake tickets. At most, I only saw one of each. Disorganisation was the reason for my wait.
Amazing fans, again. The queue was unsupervised and no one attempted to jump it until kick-off. People began jumping to the other side of the queue as we approached it. This caused a crush that could not be avoided.
This is clearly demonstrated by the French police and UEFA’s subsequent cover up. We thought that UEFA was guilty of greed when they sold LFC hoodies at twice the cost in Liverpool.
They sucked every bit of the magic from what had been two magical days on Saturday. It was a day where Madrilenos as well as Scousers came together to show their respect for each other’s special clubs.
Photograph of a Paris police officer spraying pepper spray at fans outside Stade de France
The Parisians welcomed the large red army that filled their bars and would not cease singing Anfield Road songs.
It’s amazing to see what can happen when football fans are treated like humans.
We made our way through the amazing scenes of camaraderie and happiness in the fanzone on Saturday afternoon. My son commented: “Almost a shame that we have to go to this game.
His words were prophetic, but he didn’t know it.
A nine-year-old Liverpool fan wipes her eyes when she was teargassed by police during the Champions League final. The UK government is calling for a formal investigation into the fury expressed at UEFA officials and French ministers for blaming ‘ticketless fans’ for all of the chaos
Nick Pisa, David Averre in Paris and Jacob Thorburn MailOnline
One Liverpool fan was involved in the Champions League final chaos and described it as “war zone” after being tear gassed by police.
Carl Clemente is a Liverpool supporter for over twenty years. He has travelled across Europe to visit the team and was shocked by what he saw on the streets in Paris.
After being caught in the tear gas used by Paris police to attack thugs, Carlos’ nine-year-old son was terrified. He had to wipe his tears.
MailOnline was told by Mr Clemente who wrote two books about the history Liverpool. He said: “I have been going every game at Anfield since Gerard Houllier took over.
“But, what I saw Saturday night was something I’ve never seen before. It has made me reconsider going back to Liverpool. I won’t stop supporting Liverpool, but it will make me think twice about attending these events again. It was quite shocking.
It was the first time that I took my nine year-old son, who was nine years old, to a final. Although he wanted to travel to Madrid and Kyiv with me but I was concerned about his age, I decided this was the best option.
Unfortunate footage shows a nine year old boy crying in Paris streets after tear gas from French police was used against him. This happened following last night’s Champions League Final. Carl Clemente, a Liverpool fan and football author posted this clip to Twitter. It shows his son weeping as he desperately tries to stop the flood of tears from his eyes after the attack.
“We were at the Liverpool fan One Park and all was well there. We left around 5 p.m. to get to the ground. It was quite far so we didn’t want to deal with any problems.
“Thankfully we had no problems getting in the ground, but the checks were insane and it was already looking chaotic. But once I got inside, what I noticed was that Real Madrid’s end was full of Liverpool’s.
Although I now realize that this was caused by the chaotic entry process, it made me wonder if there was any way to make Liverpool’s fan area accessible from faraway ground. While the Liverpool fan zone was located across town, it was only a short walk from the Real Madrid one.
Clemente stated that this was what annoyed him most: “The stadium PA said the match had been delayed by fans who arrived late.” It was completely false and it was offensive to me.
He said, “After the game, we just wanted back to the hotel. So we went back to the prearranged pick-up point for our taxi. Although we were both disappointed that we lost, we still had some fun together. I also saw Liverpool fans coming towards me.
After the Champions League final, Mr Clemente was attacked with tear gas by French police as he and Carlos left the ground.
Paris Police publish photos of fake tickets they say caused chaos during Champions League final
Parisian police released photos of what they said were fake tickets. They caused havoc at Saturday’s Champions League Final between Real Madrid (Liverpool) and Liverpool.
This was just as France’s interior minister had blamed thousands of British “supporters” without tickets or counterfeit tickets for the horrendous scenes that took place outside Stade de France.
The 36-minute delay in kickoff occurred because of a dangerous situation outside Stade de France, Paris. Thousands of Liverpool supporters were teargassed and crushed by police.
UEFA originally blamed fans arriving late to the stadium’s entrance doors for their problems, but they later attributed it to fake tickets being used by supporters who caused delay.
Gerald Darmanin (interior minister) also tried to point fingers at Liverpool fans.
A picture of him in the Stade de France police control room with Amelie Oudea–Castera was tweeted by the author. He wrote, “With @AOC1978 at the Stade de France Security Headquarters.”
“Thousands” of British supporters forced entry to the stadium without tickets or counterfeit tickets and assaulted the staff.
“Thank you for the many police officers who mobilized in such a difficult setting this evening.”
The riot police used batons against supporters to push them back outside of gates. These were supposed to be locked in order to keep out those who didn’t have tickets or had fake tickets.
UEFA stated that tickets forged in Liverpool caused a bottleneck due to ticket barcodes not scanning at turnstiles.
French riot police are also being accused of attacking Liverpool supporters who were watching their team lose the final at a designated fan zone at the Place de la Nation.
Gerald Darmanin (French interior minister) blames ticketless Liverpool fans in the chaos
“They advised me to not go this way because the police were spraying pepper gas on people, and also firing tear gas. But it was there that I picked up so I kept going.
“As soon as we came up to the police station, the tension was palpable.
“The way they did business was quite different from what it is back home in the UK. There was not a smile, no hello or hello. It was almost like being in a war zone.”
Clemente described the scene in which local youths started to harass police officers and Liverpool supporters as they left. Then, all of a suddenly, he was hit with a tear gas canister.
According to him, the disturbances were not the fault of Real Madrid or Liverpool fans. It was caused by local gangs who tried to intimidate and fire tear gas at me with canisters.
“The weight of the smoke knocked me down and it made me roll on the ground. The smoke caused my son to be terrified. He was both being coughed up and then spluttering, and our eyes were streaming.
Carlos was extremely scared, it felt like war, and the police wanted to use spray and gas. Carlos could not breathe normally and it was quite an unpleasant experience.
He asked, “What’s he going remember from his first football game?” He was sore and the police officer using pepper spray and tear gas on his eyes. He was so distraught, I had to bring him to Euro Disney.
Nadine Dorries (UK Culture Secretary) said today, in the wake of chaos: ‘The footage from Liverpool fans last night and their accounts to media about their entry into the Stade de France yesterday are deeply alarming.
“Thousands of ticket holders made it to Paris for the big match of their season.
UEFA should immediately launch a formal investigation to determine what happened and why. This will be done in collaboration with the stadium staff and Federation Francaise de Football and Merseyside Police.
“It is in everyone’s interest to find out what happened, and take away lessons.”
French police said 68 people were arrested and 174 people were injured after chaotic scenes before, during and after the match saw riot officers deploy the noxious gas and beat Liverpool supporters with batons.
While there wasn’t a breakdown in nationalities, or any reasons for arrest being made, one source stated that most of the injuries stemmed from tear gas inhalation. The riot police took over a pub housing around 500 football fans and had to evacuate it.
Gerald Darmanin (French interior minister) stated that chaos had been caused by ticketless fans trying forcefully to enter the Stade de France. This was to view Liverpool v Real Madrid.
The stewards were sometimes attacked and forced to enter by a number of British “fans” without tickets. He tweeted, “Thank you to all of the police forces that mobilized this evening in such difficult circumstances.”
Videos have surfaced of police using tear gas against scores of peaceful protesters, including those waiting outside of the gates.