DURING the past week, events preceding last weekend’s Champions League final at the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis — where Real Madrid and Liverpool fans encountered problems entering the stadium and were pepper-sprayed and tear-gassed by police — have been documented via thousands of first-hand accounts from all corners of the ground, the surrounding area, and all sections of the stadium.

Despite this many, including French politicians, are still looking to incorrectly and unfairly lay the blame on football supporters.

Some of the language being used is distressingly similar to that which told lies about fans following the Hillsborough disaster, and some of the reactions to what happened to fans at this Champions League final show how deep-rooted those lies were.

French Minister of the Interior Gerald Darmanin has tried to blame everything from fake tickets to “certain English clubs,” and has since said that there were no such problems at the Real Madrid end — a statement that can quickly be proven false.

The comments from France’s sports minister, Amelie Oudea-Castera, have been just as ill-founded, as the authorities look to protect themselves by laying the blame on fans.

“We only knew the identity of the finalists on May 4, especially Liverpool with the very specific risk their fans present us,” Oudea-Castera said. She also accused Liverpool of “letting its supporters out in the wild.” Whatever that means.

These comments show prejudice against football fans. Fans who had paid considerable sums of money for travel and tickets to Uefa’s show-piece event, but found themselves on the end of unnecessary police force and in a potentially dangerous situation due to poor organisation.

The statements and stories from Darmanin and Oudea-Castera can be debunked simply by asking people who were there.

Indeed, most of this information from primary sources is already available to read in English, French, and Spanish, thanks to the thousands of first-hand accounts relayed by reporters and journalists, or posted straight to social media.

From supporters to corporate, and from media to VIPs, the accounts are ones of difficulty entering the stadium, a lack of organisation around the stadium, and heavy-handed policing all of which put the safety of supporters at risk.

Steve Rotheram, the Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, was at the game and faced similar problems to many fans trying to enter the stadium.

“As a lifelong fan and the representative for the Liverpool city region, I was outraged by the treatment of Liverpool fans at the hands of the French police,” he said in a statement.

“The scenes outside Stade de France, before and after the game, were completely chaotic, with what appeared to be a breakdown of control and communication.

“While fans travelled to the ground hoping for the night of their lives, it appears that the Gendarmerie [French police] went looking for conflict.”

Fans were funnelled into small cramped areas, subjected to tear-gassing by police who used their vehicles to create bottlenecks in the flow of people.

English, Spanish, and French media alike have reported first-hand accounts from supporters, dignitaries, and their own journalists who were present at the game, and all point to the inadequate organisation, poor treatment of fans and unnecessary police action.

Despite suggestions that this only occurred at the Liverpool end of the ground, Real Madrid fans reported the same problems.

“We are lucky to be talking about Madrid’s victory and not a tragedy,” Real supporter Gabriel Saez told the Spanish radio station, Radio Cope.

“There were no signs to say where the entrances were. It was a bottleneck.

“Imagine the scene: I have children of 8, 12, 15, 20 and 24 years. In this flood of people, I said to my wife, ‘Let’s get out of here,’ because any sort of trouble in that situation and there would have been deaths.

“But we couldn’t move so we encircled our youngest. There were two police vans making the bottleneck, limiting the space where only five at a time were allowed to pass.

“They frisked you and checked you had a ticket and then let you pass. There were moments when they were firing pepper spray towards people.”

This echoes the numerous reports from Liverpool fans, videos on social media, and the vital reporting done by fan media since the moment it became evident there were problems outside the stadium.

This work has helped push back against the lies of politicians and the authorities that began to emerge on the day of the game. As these lies continue to be peddled, so the pushback and the reporting of what actually happened needs to continue.

Uefa has commissioned an independent report which they say “will examine decision-making, responsibility and behaviours of all entities involved in the final.”

In a statement yesterday, Real Madrid said: “We call for answers and explanations in order to determine those responsible for leaving the fans abandoned and defenceless. Fans who in general terms showed exemplary conduct at all times.
 
“We believe something which should have been a wonderful festival of football for all fans who attended the game, quickly turned into a series of unfortunate events which have caused a sense of outrage around the world.”

Liverpool FC have offered support to fans affected by the events and have also asked fans to submit their experiences.

The club’s CEO, Billy Hogan, was one of many people calling for an independent report into the events and said: “We’ve also noted our deep concern about the false information that’s being circulated.”

Darmanin and Oudea-Castera also tried to put the blame on the use of fake tickets, initially stating that there were up to 40,000 in circulation and that they had been produced on an “industrial scale”. Since then, officials at the Stade de France confirmed that a much lower figure of 2,800 tickets failed to scan.

The Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo of the Socialist Party, was more frank about what happened and questioned what this means for future events in and around the city.

“What happened at the Stade de France is a disgrace for our country, our region, our capital, which will host the biggest, most recognised and broadcast event in the world, the Olympic Games and Paralympics [in 2024],” she said.

She also commented that such over the top use of police force had been increasing since the “yellow vests” protests began pushing for political reform in 2018.

No doubt, the next in line for blame will likely be locals of Saint-Denis. Despite being close to the glamour and riches of Paris, it is one of the poorest areas of France, whose inhabitants will be all too familiar with the type of police action football fans experienced at this final.

As the words of Darmanin and Oudea-Castera show, those in charge will initially look to blame everyone but themselves, but the overwhelming number of reports on the ground, from the ground on the day will hopefully make sure that this time, the lies don’t stick.