London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Aug 25, 2025

Champions League final: France blames 'massive' ticket fraud as policing row rages

Champions League final: France blames 'massive' ticket fraud as policing row rages

France has hit out at what it says was "industrial-scale" ticket fraud at Saturday's Champions League final amid a row over the game's policing.

Ministers acknowledged difficulties in managing crowds at the final in Paris, but say organised fraud was the root cause of the problems.

Liverpool ticket-holders were seen waiting in huge queues, with French police later using tear gas on crowds.

The treatment of fans was "an absolute disgrace," one Liverpool fan said.

Tom Whitehurst said he had to get his disabled son "out of the way" after they were pepper-sprayed.

"[Fans] were indiscriminately pepper-sprayed and there were people with tickets, who arrived two-and-a-half hours early, who were queuing up and they were charged at by riot police with shields."

Another supporter, Michael Carter, told the BBC people further back in the queue "were lifting each other up and over the walls because they were being crushed".

The BBC's sports journalist Nick Parrott, who was in Paris, said "it was the most petrifying experience I've ever had at a football match". He tweeted that locals were "trying to force their way in leading to security closing the gates and keeping out legitimate fans with tickets".

Amid a chorus of criticism from the UK, the French sports ministry has been meeting Europe's football governing body Uefa, the French Football Association and stadium officials and police to "draw lessons" from the event.

Uefa has now commissioned an independent report into the events surrounding the match. The French sports ministry also commissioned its own summary report, due within 10 days.

France's interior and sports ministers have been pointing blame for the chaos at fans with fake tickets and local youths trying to force their way into the stadium.

Interior minister Gérald Darmanin said "massive, industrial-scale" ticket fraud had caused Liverpool fans to turn up en masse, and said that of about 30 arrests made at the Stade de France "more than half concerned British citizens". He stated that there had been 30,000 to 40,000 Liverpool fans with fake tickets or without tickets outside the stadium.

Mr Darmanin also defended the police's actions, stating that "the decisions taken prevented deaths or serious injury".

"We regret a disorganisation in the admission of British supporters," he said.

Speaking earlier on French radio, sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra said there were "no problems" regarding Real supporters and the Spanish side had controlled their travelling fans better than Liverpool.

But a spokesperson for France's independent police commissioner's union (SICP), Mathieu Valet, told the BBC's Newshour that "supporters without tickets or with fake tickets... were not the main problem."

"It's clear that we needed more police - we didn't have enough on the ground," he added.


So the French government recognises that the policing was at times heavy-handed, and that the difficulties getting fans from the train station should have been predicted after a strike.

But it insists that there would have been none of the chaos without the presence of "30-40,000" ticketless Liverpool supporters.

All of this will have to be verified.

If it is true that seven out of ten tickets checked at the first perimeter turned out to be fraudulent, then that does indeed suggest a scam of monumental proportions - enough to render useless even the best-laid policing plans.

But plenty of people - French as well as British - who were there on Saturday night question the government's version. They wonder if blaming Liverpool isn't a convenient way of shucking off responsibility closer to home.

And if there were 30-40,000 ticketless people milling around the stadium as the match got under way, how come that is not what journalists remember seeing? That number of disappointed and aimless fans don't just disappear.

Liverpool fans are angry with the French, and with UEFA for blaming them for the disastrous evening. The chaos will probably turn out to have multiple causes.

But from the French point of view, pointing the finger at convenient foreign scapegoats would be particularly short-sighted.

A spokesman for UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson described footage from the Stade de France at the weekend as "deeply upsetting and concerning" and called for a full investigation.

Uefa initially blamed the "late arrival" of fans for the problems.

But Merseyside police, who are responsible for policing in Liverpool and were present in Paris, said the vast majority of Liverpool fans arrived early at the turnstiles and behaved in an "exemplary manner".

Saturday's TV footage showed young men who did not appear to be wearing red Liverpool shirts jumping the stadium gates and then running away from security.

Liverpool fans spoke of long queues building up hours before the match started, and the final was delayed by 35 minutes by the trouble outside the stadium.

The chaos continued after the match ended. One Real Madrid supporter, Antonio Castaño, told the BBC there were "organised groups robbing people, harassing them, breaking car windows, it was absolute chaos.

"I've been to games in Liverpool, Munich, Milan, London, Cardiff, to Russia. I've never seen anything like this," he said. "There weren't enough police, there weren't enough resources and there wasn't enough respect for the fans. We were left high and dry, both the Spanish fans and the English ones."


Watch: Piecing together fan videos of crowding and pepper spray at Champions League final


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
A new faith called Robotheism claims artificial intelligence isn’t just smart but actually God itself
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner Purchases Third Property Amid Housing Tax Reforms Debate
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Italian Facebook Group Sharing Intimate Images Without Consent Shut Down Amid Police Investigation
Dutch Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Deadlock Over Israel Sanctions
Trump and Allies Send Messages of Support to Ukraine on Independence Day Amid Ongoing Conflict
China Reels as Telegram Chat Group Shares Hidden-Camera Footage of Women and Children
Sam Nicoresti becomes first transgender comedian to win Edinburgh Comedy Award
Builders uncover historic human remains in Lancashire house renovation
Australia Wants to Tax Your Empty Bedrooms
MotoGP Cameraman Narrowly Avoids Pedro Acosta Crash at Hungarian Grand Prix
FBI Investigates John Bolton Over Classified Documents in High-Profile Raids
Report reveals OpenAI pitched national ChatGPT Plus subscription to UK ministers
Labour set to freeze income tax thresholds in long-term 'stealth' tax raid
Coca‑Cola explores sale of Costa coffee chain
Trial hears dog walker was chased and fatally stabbed by trio
Restaurateur resigns from government hospitality council over tax criticism
Spanish City funfair shut after serious ride injury
Suspected arson at Ilford restaurant leaves three in critical condition
Tottenham beat Manchester City to go top of Premier League
Bank holiday heatwave to hit 30°C before remnants of Hurricane Erin arrive
UK to deploy immigration advisers to West Africa to block fake visas
Nurse who raped woman continued working for a year despite police alert
Drought forces closures of England’s canal routes, canceling boat holidays
Sweet tooth scents: food-inspired perfumes surge as weight-loss drugs suppress appetites
Experts warn Britain dangerously reliant on imported food
Family of Notting Hill Carnival murder victim call event unmanageable
Bunkers, Billions and Apocalypse: The Secret Compounds of Zuckerberg and the Tech Giants
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
×