Liverpool chairman Tom Werner has demanded an apology from France’s sports minister, after she claimed that British fans with bogus tickets and the club’s treatment of its fans were to blame for the chaos that engulfed Saturday’s Champions League final.
The match at the Stade de France, in which Real Madrid won 1-0, was delayed for more than a half-hour as police attempted to keep fans from forcing their way into the stadium. French riot police used tear gas on several supporters, including kids.
Amelie Oudea-Castera, the sports minister, stated on Monday that the initial difficulties were created by Liverpool fans who did not have legitimate tickets, accusing the club of allowing its fans “go crazy.”
Gerald Darmanin, the French interior minister, said that “30,000-40,000 bogus tickets” were a major influence in the chaos outside the stadium, claiming “vast [ticket] fraud on an industrial scale.”
In a letter to Oudea-Castera sent late Monday, Werner retaliated, calling her statements “irresponsible, unprofessional, and completely insulting” to the fans.
“The UEFA Champions League final should be one of the finest spectacles in world sport, and instead it devolved into one of the worst security collapses in recent memory,” Werner was quoted as saying by the Liverpool Echo newspaper.
“On behalf of all the fans who experienced this nightmare I demand an apology from you, and assurance that the French authorities and UEFA allow an independent and transparent investigation to proceed.”
The event has been referred to UEFA for an independent investigation, while Oudea-Castera stated that the French sports ministry will issue a report within 10 days.
