London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 08, 2025

Champions League: French police looked for problems, says Liverpool mayor

Champions League: French police looked for problems, says Liverpool mayor

Liverpool's mayor has said some French police officers were seeking confrontation at last month's Champions League final in Paris.

Steve Rotheram said the day had quickly turned from a dream into a nightmare

Steve Rotheram said police were quick to threaten fans with their batons.

The head of policing at the final earlier apologised for using tear gas on Liverpool fans travelling to the Stade de France but said he had no alternative.

The fiasco has prompted uproar in France as well as the UK and Spain.

Liverpool fans, including families with children, were tear-gassed and pepper-sprayed outside the stadium by police ahead of the final between Liverpool and Real Madrid on 28 May.

Then as they left the area, some fans were attacked by 300 to 400 local youths.

The French Senate is now investigating the incident.

Speaking to the Senate on Thursday, Mr Rotheram - who was at the final - said "the day gradually transformed from a dream into a nightmare".

"I saw police who were, in a way, looking to find a problem," he said.

He added that he had been robbed of his possessions at the event.

French authorities blamed late arrivals and fake tickets for overcrowding and chaotic scenes before the match.

Speaking earlier at the Senate, head of policing at the final Didier Lallement defended the tactics he used, insisting his "red line" was to save lives.

Using tear gas outside the stadium was the only means they had to get the crowd to move back without charging at them, which would have been "devastating", he explained. However, if his force had not dispersed the crowd, people could have died in a crush.

"I am fully aware that people acting in good faith, even families, were tear-gassed," he added. "For this I am very sorry. But there was no other way."

He did however admit that the security operation was "obviously a failure," saying "people were pushed around or attacked even though we owed them security."

He said his force was not prepared for the scale of the problem that thousands of fake tickets caused.

In another development during the Senate's investigation, it emerged that all the CCTV from outside the stadium on the day of the final has been deleted.

Erwan Le Prévost, director of international relations at the French Football Federation (FFF) told the Senate that CCTV footage of the stadium is automatically deleted after seven days. As the footage had not been requested before the seven days were up, it was deleted. He added that the images were "extremely violent".

The Senate commission's co-president Laurent Lafon told AFP that as an investigation was opened a day after the game, there would have been "plenty of time" to request the footage. "We need to understand what happened," he said.

Interior minister Gérald Darmanin has come under fire for his own response, blaming the trouble outside the stadium on "massive, industrial-scale" ticket fraud which caused Liverpool fans to turn up en masse.

Mr Lallement said the scale of fake tickets had not been considered ahead of the match. Asked why he had put the number of fake tickets at 30-40,000, the police chief admitted he may have been wrong but that was the number he had estimated at the time.

Liverpool fans have complained of fearing for their safety in the crush, despite arriving hours earlier. But they have also told of local gangs from the Saint-Denis area descending on crowds after the match, stealing phones and watches and threatening them with knives.

Mr Lallement pledged to do everything he could to find those responsible for the post-match violence and to bring them to justice. He encouraged British and Spanish citizens to file complaints to help find those responsible.

Uefa eventually apologised to fans of both clubs last week for the "frightening and distressing events" they had witnessed. "No football fan should be put in that situation, and it must not happen again," the European football governing body said in a statement.


Watch: Fans shared videos showing pepper spray being deployed and children crying in Paris


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
OpenAI Launches GPT‑5, Its Most Advanced AI Model Yet
Embarrassment in Britain: Homelessness Minister Evicted Tenants and Forced to Resign
President Trump nominated Stephen Miran, his top economic adviser and a critic of the Federal Reserve, to temporarily fill an open Fed seat
The AI-Powered Education Revolution: Market Potential and Transformative Impact
Chikungunya Virus Outbreak in Southern China: Over 7,000 Hospitalized
French wine makers have seen catastrophic damage to vines that were almost ready to be harvested after the worst fires in more than 70 years burned through the south of the country
US Lawmaker Probes Intel CEO’s China Ties Amid National Security Concerns
Brazilian President Lula says he’ll contact the leaders of BRICS states to propose a unified response to U.S. tariffs
Trump Open to Meeting Putin as Soon as Next Week, with Possible Trilateral Summit Including Zelenskiy
Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spark dating rumors, joining high stakes world of celeb-politician romances
US envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow to seek a breakthrough in the Ukraine war ahead of President Trump’s peace deadline
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Karol Nawrocki Inaugurated as Poland’s President, Setting Stage for Clash with Tusk Government
Trump Signals JD Vance as ‘Most Likely’ MAGA Successor for 2028
US Charges Two Chinese Nationals for Illegal Nvidia AI Chip Exports
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
U.S. Tariff Policy Triggers Market Volatility Amid Growing Global Trade Tensions
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
Representative Greene Urges H-1B Visa Cuts Amid U.S.-India Trade Tensions
U.S. House Committee Subpoenas Clintons and Senior Officials in Epstein Investigation
Sydney Sweeney Registered as Republican as Controversial American Eagle Ad Sparks Debate
Trump Accuses Major Banks of Politically Motivated Account Denials and Prepares Executive Order
TikTok Removes Huda Kattan Video Over Anti-Israel Conspiracy Claims
Trump Threatens Tariffs on India Over Russian Oil Imports
German Finance Minister Criticizes Trump’s Attacks on Institutions
U.S. Proposes Visa Bond of Up to $15,000 for Some Applicants
U.S. Farmers Increase Lobbying Amid Immigration Crackdown
Elon Musk Receives $23.7 Billion Tesla Stock Award
Texas House Paralyzed After Democrats Walk Out Over Redistricting
Mexican Cartels Complicate Sheinbaum’s U.S. Security Talks
Mark Zuckerberg Declares War on the iPhone
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
Tesla Seeks Shareholder Approval for $29 Billion Compensation Package for Elon Musk
Nvidia is cutting prices on its RTX 50-series graphics cards after sales slowed and inventories piled up
Ghislaine Maxwell Transferred to Minimum-Security Prison Amid Ongoing DOJ Discussions
U.S. Tariffs Surge to Highest Levels in Nearly a Century Under Second Trump Term
Matt Taibbi Slams Media for Role in Russiagate Narrative
Pilots Call for Mental Health Support Without Stigma
All Five Trapped Miners Found Dead After El Teniente Mine Collapse
Ong Beng Seng Pleads Guilty in Corruption Case Linked to Former Singapore Transport Minister
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
Italy Fines Shein One Million Euros for Misleading Sustainability Claims
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
Declassified Annex Links Soros‑Affiliated Officials and Clinton Campaign to ‘Russiagate’ Narrative
×