Macron Demands Transparency In Champions League Chaos Probe

French President Emmanuel Macron is calling for “full transparency” over the chaos that marred Saturday’s Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool in Paris.

The match was delayed as Liverpool fans queued outside the stadium.

French police used tear gas and pepper spray on some supporters.

Authorities blamed ticket fraud and the sports minister said Liverpool had let fans “out in the wild”. But Liverpool fans contested her version of events.

They blamed organisational failures, heavy-handed policing and overcrowding, while club chairman Tom Werner demanded an apology for minister Amélie Oudéa-Castera’s comments.

Footballing sources told AFP that 2,800 fake tickets were detected at the stadium gates, while the French Football Federation alleged that some 35,000 people had shown up with fake tickets or with no tickets at all, causing disorder by blocking the gates.

Mathieu Valet, a spokesman for France’s independent police commissioner’s union (SICP) told the BBC that it was not fake tickets or ticketless supporters who were the main problem:

“It’s clear that we needed more police – we didn’t have enough on the ground.”