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Stade de France

Did anyone else read the report of the Champions League final debacle? The police unilaterally started diverting fans away from the RER B to the RER D, then when the crowds bottlenecked along the narrow route from the RER D station, gangs began mugging the fans. The police did little to protect fans from the gangs. The Athletic has a chilling account of a moment when two police officers were asked to help a Liverpool fan whose leg had been smashed by a hammer. The cops shrugged and said "This is Saint Denis."

I had my family in that stadium a few weeks later when the official line was that Liverpool fans without tickets caused the chaos. If I had known that story was a lie and that the police were largely to blame for what unfolded, I would have never taken my family there. I hope people keep that in mind when considering attending any Olympic events at the Stade de France. I also hope the rail unions reconsider scheduling strikes on days when special events are occurring. The police overreacted (the RER B was operating at 80% capacity that day), but the strike helped set some of the mayhem in motion.

Posted by
4585 posts

Wow, I just read both articles. I wonder what this says about potential issues with the Olympics next year? A couple of concerning quotes from the two articles:

“As football fans, you get used to being treated badly." This is from a football fan from Liverpool. My interpretation is that this is a bigger problem than just that game if fans go to games expecting their could be trouble.

“All the stakeholders interviewed… have agreed that this situation was a near-miss: a term used when an event almost turns into a mass fatality catastrophe.” Holy crap! I've never been to a sporting event in Europe, but I badly want to. But to put myself, and especially my wife into potential danger is concerning. Especially after the fan's quote that you get used to being treated badly. I've been to a lot of games around North America; NHL, CFL, NFL and MLB and have never felt unsafe, inside or outside of a stadium.

**You need a subscription to The Athletic to read. If I can find a way to gift the articles, I'll post a link.

Posted by
10623 posts

It was an overreaction to the threat of hooliganism. Certain countries have proven history and a reputation. The police overreacted. Innocent, ticket-holders paid the price literally and physically. Thank goodness the truth is coming out now.
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Posted by
10193 posts

Yes, unfortunately it has been pretty clear since quite soon after this happened that bad policing was totally or almost exclusively to blame for this.

Not to excuse the French authorities, but remember that this match got moved to Paris not too long before it took place -- it got moved to Paris from St Petersburg, where it had been scheduled to be held, after the Russians invaded Ukraine. (I.e. one could say that the French police didn't have a long time to put together their plan -- but that is pretty lame.)

The beginning of the article on the UEFA report in Le Figaro says it all:

Un dispositif de sécurité français totalement défaillant

A totally failed French security provision (for the match )

Here's a link if you read French or want to run the article through Google translate

https://www.lefigaro.fr/sports/football/ligue-des-champions/ligue-des-champions-l-uefa-accable-la-police-francaise-apres-la-finale-liverpool-real-madrid-au-stade-de-france-20230213?utm_source=app&utm_medium=sms&utm_campaign=fr.playsoft.lefigarov3

And here's a link to the report in L'Equipe, the main French sport newspaper (reputable):

https://www.lequipe.fr/Football/Actualites/Le-rapport-commande-l-uefa-pour-comprendre-le-chaos-au-stade-de-france-lors-de-la-finale-de-la-ligue-des-champions-epingle-la-police/1380608