Chaotic scenes at the French national stadium before and during Saturday night’s Champions League final were branded a national embarrassment, while French ministers blamed Liverpool fans for the trouble.
The final between Liverpool and Real Madrid kicked off with a 36-minute delay after police tried to hold back people attempting to force their way into the Stade de France without tickets, while some ticket holders complained they were not let in.
Television footage showed images of young men, who did not appear to be wearing the red Liverpool jerseys, jumping the gates of the stadium and running away. Other people outside, including children, were tear-gassed by riot police, a witness said.
Some riot police officers stormed into the stadium while others charged at people trying to knock down stadium gates.
European soccer’s governing body Uefa blamed fake tickets for causing the issue and said it would review the events together with the French authorities and the French Football Federation, in a statement welcomed by the British ambassador in Paris, Menna Rawlings.
“We need to establish the facts,” Rawlings tweeted.
France’s interior and sports ministers squarely put the blame on “British” supporters. Britain’s minister for sport, Nadine Dorries, urged Uefa to launch an investigation into the incident.
Some 68 people had been arrested by 1.20 local time (4.50am IST) on Sunday while there were 238 interventions by medics for people who were very lightly injured, Paris police said in a statement.
The scenes at the stadium caused outrage in France, with politicians of all sides calling it a national disgrace. “This a shame for France!” Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, a hard-right former presidential candidate, said on Twitter.