The French interior minister has attacked Liverpool fans and manager Jurgen Klopp and blamed them for the scandal over fans’ participation in the Champions League final last Saturday in Paris.
At a press conference on Monday, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said the incident was a scandal and that 70 percent of the tickets used during the final were “fake”.
The start of the match was delayed 35 minutes after police tried to stop fans trying to enter the French National Stadium without tickets, while some ticket holders complained they were not allowed to enter.
Television images showed young men, clearly not wearing Liverpool’s red shirts, jumping at the stadium gates and running away.
Chaotic scenes at the French National Stadium have sparked national embarrassment as France is set to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup and the 2024 Olympics.
The Minister of the Interior indicated that 2,700 ticket-holder fans were unable to attend the final due to chaos.
Darmanan refused to take responsibility for what happened, blaming Liverpool fans and German coach Jurgen Klopp.
The French minister accused the Liverpool manager of “encouraging” Liverpool fans to go to Paris, even if they didn’t have tickets for the match, as a kind of psychological support for the players before the match.
The French minister pointed out that “between 30,000 and 40,000 Liverpool fans came to the match with or without fake tickets.”
He said: “In 2019, when there was a final between Liverpool and Tottenham, the same problems arose in Madrid, a number of British fans did not comply with the laws.”
The French minister criticized Liverpool’s desire to use paper tickets rather than electronic ones, which he said “created a huge scam”.
