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A week after the chaotic Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid, RMC Sport contacted English Reds fans to collect their testimonies about the dark events at the Stade de France.
A week after the terrible events at the Stade de France, the Liverpool fans have not forgotten the chaos that reigned during the Champions League final lost to Real Madrid (1-0). Contacted by RMC Sport, some tell the story of this dark night.
“When we got to the butler, he didn’t check our tickets”
“We arrived at the stadium well in advance, it was recommended as there was a RER strike. When we arrived we were close to the Real fans, there was no animosity, just chants from both sides. Everything was fine. Time passed and the police did not let us go further. With the crowd, the crowd started and people started to panic. When we got to the butler level, he didn’t check our tickets. Everyone was able to get in. We had to go one by one, but everyone was able to get to the edge of the stadium. Once we got to the edge of the stadium, there was a queue at each gate and no one was moving forward. We went to our gate, the Z, but it was closed,” said Mathilde, a Liverpool supporter in France.
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“The French tried to steal my brother’s phone”
Amid the chaos, Liverpool fans went through all the emotions. Charlie, an England supporter, says: “When we arrived we saw locals steal tickets straight from the hands of fans when no police were present. I didn’t have my ticket, it’s my cousin who had both of our tickets, but he was other side of the stadium and when I wanted to cross I had to go through the preliminary search where they check the tickets and then they do a body search, they wanted to let me through because I didn’t have my ticket eventually I started crying and one of the marshals took pity on me and he let me through. The whole time the stewards refused to talk to me. The fans. People were obviously stressed about missing the game, but everyone behaved properly. I didn’t see any inappropriate behavior towards the police, just an effect general panic.
For her part, Mathilde has not forgotten what happened before her eyes. “We could see people, clearly not English fans, without tickets, attacking a woman, right in front of me. This woman was probably my mother’s age. These attacks did not come from Liverpool fans. Liverpool fans were calm , concentrated , were trying to help children and vulnerable people. When we tried to ask law enforcement for information, they responded with tear gas. People were attacking us and gassed us. And today, we are the accused?
“I saw the stewards laughing and making fun of the fans that were stuck”
After the end of the game, the atmosphere did not go down to the outskirts of the Dionysian enclosure. “I saw the stewards laughing and making fun of the Liverpool fans who were trapped and suffocated in the crowd,” confesses Ben, a British fan. I saw the fans break down in tears after passing the gates, because of the trauma. After the final whistle, “We left quickly but some French people tried to steal my brother’s phone. Then we had to climb a wall to escape and avoid the tear gas from the police. In this way, I denounce the way in which Liverpool supporters have been dealt with by the French authorities. It is also outrageous that UEFA blames Liverpool fans.”
Liverpool Football Club chief executive Billy Hogan said the club had received 5,000 responses to its testimony platform about incidents at the Stade France on Saturday and said he was “appalled” at what he read. “Is incredible. On Tuesday afternoon, just 24 hours after the launch of the form (to collect testimonials), we have over 5,000 forms that have been filled out and submitted, which is really incredible,” he explained in a posted video. Tuesday night on the club’s website.
“Obviously this is an incredible amount of information, so we ask for a little patience while we go through it in detail,” he added, of the Champions League final won by Real Madrid and plagued by incidents around the Stade de France before the kick-off. Hogan read some of the testimonies and “honestly, I am horrified by the way in which men, women and children, people with disabilities and others less, were treated indiscriminately during the day on Saturday,” he said.