A damning report into the police failings that led to the collapse of the security operation at the 2022 Champions League final in Paris has made new safety recommendations for major sporting events in France.
An investigation by the Defense des Droits, an independent administrative authority of the French government, was launched following complaints by Liverpool supporters with disabilities relating to the use of tear gas and the police’s failure to protect them from attacks by local gangs as they left the arena.
It found that the police “failed in its duty to protect people” at the Stade de France two years ago, where the use of tear gas was “absolutely not necessary or appropriate in the circumstances”.
“There is no doubt this use of force led to a panic reaction amongst supporters, which put people at risk,” the report concluded.
This action “endangered” the supporters who were legitimately present to watch the match, “which was the case for the majority of those present”.
According to the report, the police “did not take all the necessary steps to supervise or oversee the actions of their officers”. It recommended that in the future body cameras are enabled whenever law enforcement use weapons in any part of their duties.
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Minister of the interior Gerald Darmanin — who initially made inaccurate claims about the number of counterfeit tickets in circulation before they were dismissed, leading to him to apologise “to everyone who suffered from bad management” at the final — will now have to consider proposals that include changes to the rules around the use of tear gas at sports grounds and other cultural events.
The report also suggested that French authorities issue instructions and orders in foreign languages at these spectacles, depending on the nationalities of those attending.
Outside the Stade de France, limited signage had contributed towards a bottleneck of supporters at the Liverpool end of the ground.
With pressure building and fears of crushes, the police gave up on a pre-screening point which, according to the authorities present, allowed as many as “400 individuals without tickets” to access the outer concourse of the ground.
The report did not mention where these individuals had come from. In the testimonies of supporters, journalists and sponsors after the near disaster, many had included references to the impact of local gangs, who were later responsible for attacks on people as they left the ground.
(Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images)
