French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has been in the spotlight following the outbreak of violent clashes outside the Stade de France during the Champions League final on Saturday night (28 May). EURACTIV France reports.
The Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid – one of the most-watched sports events in Europe – was coloured by violent clashes and poor organisation.
Thousands of Liverpool fans were turned away from the stadium, despite having tickets, according to Spanish and English journalists on the ground. Reports also emerged that hundreds had belongings stolen, and many were pushed around by police.
The foreign press described the event as a fiasco.
Darmanin’s explanation
To explain Saturday’s incidents, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin and Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra were called to appear before the press on Monday, and have been summoned by the Senate on Wednesday for a hearing.
“There is no reason to be proud,” said Darmanin.
A “massive, industrial and organised fraud of fake tickets” resulted in “thirty to forty thousand English fans being at the Stade de France, either without tickets or with fake tickets,” he continued.
This was corroborated by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).
Mathieu Hanonin, the mayor of Saint-Denis, the commune in which the stadium is located, told broadcaster BFM-TV Tuesday that “one in four people on the English side had false tickets” without confirming Darmanin’s numbers.
“The system is designed to handle one in 100 false tickets, so it created bottlenecks,” he added. Saturday’s transport strike further added to the crush, as fans arrived at the stadium in huge numbers at the same time.
On reports of police throwing tear gas at fans – children included – the minister expressed his regret over the disproportionate use of police powers and acknowledged the “deplorable images” that came out of the incident.
However, the interior minister also defended the police action, saying “French law enforcement doctrine has prevented deaths and injuries”.
Slammed by the opposition
This was not enough to convince the opposition, who sought to use the event as a political boost in the run up to the legislative elections due to be held on 12 and 19 June.
Jordan Bardella, president of Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National, called Darmanin a “pathological liar” in an interview with broadcaster France Inter on Tuesday morning.
According to him, France’s interior minister would rather “risk a diplomatic incident with Britain” than acknowledge that “gangs of young people” from the banlieues are responsible for attacking English fans.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s radical-left La France Insoumise party agreed, saying the incidents have “humiliated” France.
Darmanin and police chief Didier Lallement are “unable to ensure public safety and tranquillity,” said France Insoumise Deputy Adrien Quattenens, who noted the worrying authoritarian drift in the “doctrine of maintaining order” and use of public force.
Following Saturday’s incidents – and with the Olympic Games of 2024 and the Rugby World Cup of 2023 on the horizon – questions are being raised as to whether the current government is capable of organising such major sporting events and ensuring the safety of those attending.
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[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]
Source: euractiv.com
