Zürcher Nachrichten - Paris police chief admits security 'failure' at European final

EUR -
AED 3.862042
AFN 71.804229
ALL 98.797466
AMD 410.848078
ANG 1.899611
AOA 958.940084
ARS 1058.238507
AUD 1.620225
AWG 1.892645
AZN 1.789395
BAM 1.967098
BBD 2.128123
BDT 125.953443
BGN 1.956332
BHD 0.396362
BIF 3113.654377
BMD 1.051469
BND 1.420345
BOB 7.309987
BRL 6.106303
BSD 1.054054
BTN 88.858242
BWP 14.398702
BYN 3.449312
BYR 20608.799376
BZD 2.124603
CAD 1.482114
CDF 3017.717361
CHF 0.931823
CLF 0.037163
CLP 1025.434617
CNY 7.631781
CNH 7.633625
COP 4610.430258
CRC 537.123794
CUC 1.051469
CUP 27.863938
CVE 110.899869
CZK 25.280471
DJF 187.688029
DKK 7.458945
DOP 63.517579
DZD 140.586407
EGP 52.170119
ERN 15.77204
ETB 131.427132
FJD 2.391409
FKP 0.829943
GBP 0.835835
GEL 2.870265
GGP 0.829943
GHS 16.600348
GIP 0.829943
GMD 74.654183
GNF 9083.084398
GTQ 8.138513
GYD 220.516588
HKD 8.183129
HNL 26.634729
HRK 7.500403
HTG 138.343291
HUF 410.963645
IDR 16706.744023
ILS 3.829478
IMP 0.829943
INR 88.660528
IQD 1380.730543
IRR 44253.716178
ISK 145.081723
JEP 0.829943
JMD 167.279216
JOD 0.745807
JPY 161.530937
KES 136.168674
KGS 91.27086
KHR 4230.257223
KMF 493.08668
KPW 946.322022
KRW 1469.239507
KWD 0.323541
KYD 0.878345
KZT 526.313
LAK 23147.955604
LBP 94386.027846
LKR 306.711669
LRD 189.714255
LSL 19.056857
LTL 3.104715
LVL 0.636023
LYD 5.15863
MAD 10.589624
MDL 19.267668
MGA 4925.289533
MKD 61.559552
MMK 3415.131453
MNT 3572.892815
MOP 8.446615
MRU 41.912953
MUR 49.755948
MVR 16.245234
MWK 1827.697802
MXN 21.562203
MYR 4.686928
MZN 67.1904
NAD 19.056857
NGN 1769.759472
NIO 38.782387
NOK 11.685421
NPR 142.17627
NZD 1.797046
OMR 0.404805
PAB 1.054054
PEN 3.992029
PGK 4.245903
PHP 62.029854
PKR 292.749574
PLN 4.308154
PYG 8212.168477
QAR 3.845012
RON 4.976502
RSD 117.004332
RUB 110.908439
RWF 1439.152416
SAR 3.949844
SBD 8.822449
SCR 14.320848
SDG 632.459485
SEK 11.526107
SGD 1.415456
SHP 0.829943
SLE 23.868157
SLL 22048.791639
SOS 602.35403
SRD 37.320818
STD 21763.29276
SVC 9.222974
SYP 2641.848152
SZL 19.051426
THB 36.453918
TJS 11.235312
TMT 3.690657
TND 3.343207
TOP 2.462647
TRY 36.425338
TTD 7.15912
TWD 34.112826
TZS 2781.137122
UAH 43.741741
UGX 3905.431745
USD 1.051469
UYU 44.926765
UZS 13521.66479
VES 48.905782
VND 26723.093681
VUV 124.832555
WST 2.935272
XAF 659.740094
XAG 0.034439
XAU 0.0004
XCD 2.841648
XDR 0.806231
XOF 659.746405
XPF 119.331742
YER 262.78845
ZAR 19.031706
ZMK 9464.475804
ZMW 29.063935
ZWL 338.572704
  • RBGPF

    0.8100

    61

    +1.33%

  • RYCEF

    0.0200

    6.79

    +0.29%

  • CMSC

    0.0578

    24.73

    +0.23%

  • CMSD

    0.1200

    24.58

    +0.49%

  • GSK

    0.1900

    34.15

    +0.56%

  • SCS

    0.4500

    13.72

    +3.28%

  • RIO

    0.6300

    62.98

    +1%

  • NGG

    0.1500

    63.26

    +0.24%

  • VOD

    0.1800

    8.91

    +2.02%

  • BTI

    -0.0500

    37.33

    -0.13%

  • RELX

    -0.1800

    46.57

    -0.39%

  • BCE

    0.2500

    27.02

    +0.93%

  • BCC

    8.7200

    152.5

    +5.72%

  • AZN

    0.7700

    66.4

    +1.16%

  • JRI

    0.1600

    13.37

    +1.2%

  • BP

    -0.4000

    29.32

    -1.36%

Paris police chief admits security 'failure' at European final
Paris police chief admits security 'failure' at European final / Photo: Anne-Christine POUJOULAT - AFP

Paris police chief admits security 'failure' at European final

The head of Paris police acknowledged Thursday the "failure" of security operations for the Champions League final last month where crowd problems, tear-gas and street crime marred the biggest night in European club football.

Text size:

"It is obviously a failure," Didier Lallement told a commission investigating the fiasco at the French Senate. "It was a failure because people were pushed around and attacked. It's a failure because the image of the country was undermined."

Lallement and Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin have been under severe pressure since the May 28 game after they initially blamed the chaos on as many as 40,000 Liverpool fans at the stadium without tickets or with counterfeit tickets.

The figure has been widely disputed since by witnesses and media using images from the ground, leading Lallement to face repeated questions from senators who grew frustrated at his responses.

"Perhaps I made a mistake with the figure I gave to the minister," he said, saying he had based his estimate on the numbers of people using public transport and from feedback from the ground. "I never claimed that it was absolutely accurate."

He admitted there were not 30-40,000 "at the gates of the stadium" but maintained that many thousands were "in the vicinity" of police checkpoints at the Stade de France to the north of the capital.

Many Liverpool supporters struggled to enter the stadium, leading to kick-off to be delayed by more than half an hour and crushes at the entry gates, where police fired teargas.

Fans also complained about bottlenecks leading up to the stadium created by police, but Lallement said the checkpoints were anti-terror measures "for a risk that is still real".

The government's initial decision to blame Liverpool fans for the problems caused tensions between France and Britain, while questions have also been raised about the capacity of Paris to host the rugby World Cup next year and the Olympic Games in 2024.

- Street crime -

Lallement said he was "sorry" for authorising the use of tear gas to move supporters away from the stadium before the game, which affected mostly Liverpool fans including children and disabled people.

"We needed to get people to move back," Lallement explained. "We asked people to move back, then we used tear-gas... it's the only way to our knowledge of moving a crowd back, except for a baton charge."

His decisions that night had saved lives, he argued, saying: "I would do the same thing again."

"The line running through my actions is to avoid people dying," he told the commission.

Lallement was also asked to explain why frustrated rail passengers had been tear-gassed at a Paris station last weekend after their trains were cancelled.

He encouraged supporters from Liverpool and Real Madrid to file complaints if they were victims of counterfeited tickets or street crime outside the stadium "so that we can find the guilty parties and prosecute them".

Around 300-400 "delinquents" were outside the stadium, Lallement estimated, with many fans reporting being robbed or physically assaulted as they left after the game, which Real Madrid won 1-0.

The mayor of the Liverpool city region Steve Rotheram is due to testify to the Senate commission later Thursday.

He was a victim of pickpockets after the game, losing his phone and possessions.

Rotheram said he was "outraged by the treatment of Liverpool fans at the hands of the French police", accusing them of "looking for conflict".

N.Zaugg--NZN