Gérald Darmanin apologizes to Liverpool fans for France’s mishandling of the 2022 Champions League final against Real Madrid | OneFootball

Former France’s Minister of the Interior – and current Minister of Justice – Gérald Darmanin has voiced his apologies to Liverpool fans for France’s mishandling of the 2022 Champions League final held at Saint-Denis’ Stade de France. On the night of 28th May 2022, many supporters were denied entry to the 80,000-seat arena by security forces. With access blocked intentionally by French CRS riot police, Liverpool supporters were being herded like animals. Speaking to LEGEND, Darmanin said those events were his biggest failure.

Darmanin spoke of the confusion when he arrived on the scene. “The cops were doing what they could and we saw, on the CCTV, a red crowd, Liverpool fans being huddled around fences and CRS holding them back.” Darmanin then said his initial analysis was that Liverpool fans were making a mess, although this claim was later debunked by further analysis from UEFA and France.

“What I didn’t know that night was that the majority of the difficulties didn’t originate from English fans who wanted to have a right go at the police through hooliganism, but from Seine-Saint-Denis thugs robbing supporters“, Darmanin said. The Minister of Justice added that the security detail for the occasion was not intended at all for those circumstances. “We had mobile policemen with heavy shields and big boots, it’s not ideal for running and catching these guys.”

Darmanin concluded that France got their security detail for the 2022 Champions League final at Stade de France all wrong. “I’ve sinned by believing in stereotypes. It was an easy guilty party to point the finger at and, for that, I apologize to Liverpool fans.“

GFFN | Bastien Cheval