PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th May, 2022) The French Sports Ministry says it will hold a meeting on Monday on how to prevent civil unrest during major athletic events in the wake of the unrest at the Champions League final in Paris.
The meeting is set to take place at 11 a.m. local time (09:00 GMT) and will include everyone involved in organizing the game, the ministry said on Sunday.
"The priority is now to identify the dysfunctions together with UEFA, the French Football Federation, the Stade de France stadium, the prefecture of Paris police, the prefecture of the commune of Seine-Saint-Denis and the Saint-Denis mayor's office, in order to learn all the lessons to prevent such incidents at future major international sports events," the ministry said in a statement, quoted by French broadcaster BMFTV.
According to BFMTV, Paris Police Prefect Didier Lallement has appealed to the prosecutor to open an investigation into massive counterfeit ticket fraud at the Champions League final.
In a note addressed to the Interior Ministry, obtained by BFMTV, the prefect says that all the "essentials" were ensured at the match, such as allowing the smooth running of the game and guaranteeing the safety of the event without deaths or serious injuries.
Among the factors that contributed to the pre-match fiasco, the prefect of police cites massive and late arrivals of many British supporters, as well as disturbances caused by the RATP strike.
On Saturday, French police fired tear gas at fans of the UK Liverpool who were trying to break into the Stade de France stadium during the match between Liverpool and Real Madrid. The match started with a 37-minute delay due to security problems.
UEFA later issued a statement saying that the situation was caused by fans with fake tickets blocking the turnstiles at the Liverpool end. According to UEFA, police used tear gas to disperse the growing crowd of people outside of the stadium.
