UCL 2021-22 Final: French minister apologises to Liverpool fans over chaos

Liverpool fans’ entry into Stade de France for the 2021-22 UEFA Champions League final vs Real Madrid was delayed. Meanwhile, the French minister apologised to the fans for it.

The UEFA Champions League (UCL) 2021-22 final did not go right for English giants Liverpool, succumbing to a 0-1 loss to Spanish champion Real Madrid. Not only The Reds were denied their seventh UCL title, but their fans, too, had faced delays in entering the venue. An attempt to enter using fake tickets by some Liverpool fans led to the delay, as chaos ensued. At the same time, the security officials also reportedly used tear gas to neutralise the situation. As a result of the delay, even the kick-off had to be deferred by 45 minutes. Nonetheless, a month later, the French minister apologised for the situation.

Speaking on the mismanagement by the officials, French interior minister Gerald Darmanin ‘partly’ took the blame for the same, as he told RTL, “Should the Stade de France have been managed better? The answer is yes. Am I partly responsible? The answer is yes. Of course, I readily apologise to everyone who suffered from this bad event management.”

Incidentally, Darmanin’s this response was contrastingly different to his initial one. Earlier, he had lauded the police for doing a great job in handling the situation “avoiding drama”, besides remarking that “this kind of incident only seems to happen with certain English clubs”. Also, with France set to host the Rugby World Cup 2023 and the Paris Olympics 2024, this mismanagement has raised concerns.