Gérald Darmanin was heard this Wednesday by the Senate law commission. He admitted a failure in the organization of the Champions League final, marked by overflows around the Stade de France, a kick-off delayed by more than 30 minutes and supporters stranded outside the stadium. pregnant. “It is obvious that things could have been better organised,” admitted the Minister of the Interior.
“It’s obvious that this sports party has been ruined,” he added. “And we very sincerely regret the sometimes unacceptable excesses that have taken place,” said the minister, under fire from critics after his statements on the number of counterfeit banknotes. “This is the event that has mobilized the most police and gendarmes since I became Minister of the Interior”, he assured, rejecting any criticism of the number of police present: ” There were plenty of police. He adds that “several tickets were duplicated hundreds of times”, referring to the case of a ticket duplicated “744 times”.
“I sincerely apologize for the disproportionate use of tear gas,” the minister said, “the prefect of police should have known the number of people present at the scene.” He then announced that “two referrals to the IGPN” had been made and “sanctions were requested from the prefect of police”
Gérald Darmanin and Amélie Oudéa-Castéra have been incriminating British supporters since Saturday evening, believing that they are largely responsible for the incidents, with “massive, industrial and organized fraud of counterfeit tickets”. The Minister of the Interior also reaffirms that “110,000 people” showed up “around the Stade de France”.
However, the figures put forward by the French government remain highly criticized, in England as in France. According to Gérald Darmanin, “30,000 to 40,000 English supporters ended up at the Stade de France, either without tickets or with counterfeit tickets”. This situation has, according to the authorities, led near the Stade de France to massive congestion, overflows and the intervention of the police. A “serious lie”, denounced Marine Le Pen on Wednesday, believing that Gérald Darmanin “should consider on his own that he must leave”.
