France Must Rethink Security Ahead of 2024 Olympics After Champions League Final Mayhem
06:59 GMT 01.06.2022 (Updated: 19:28 GMT 03.11.2022)
© AP Photo / Francois Mori
Subscribe
ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) - France should investigate and draw security lessons from fan turmoil at the Champions League final in Paris as it prepares to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, experts and politicians told Sputnik.
The United Kingdom and Liverpool Football Club called for a probe after thousands of Liverpool fans with no or fake tickets blocked entrances to the Paris stadium and assaulted security guards, prompting the latter to use crowd control tools. French officials blamed British fans for the chaos.
"This is a genuine problem and we will have to look at it in depth especially in the light of the Summer Olympic Games coming in two years. What we have seen is a sign of serious governmental dysfunction. We need to master our technique on how to manage the flux of people and deal with fraud tickets' sales before the Olympics", former French lawmaker Jacques Myard said.
Chaotic scenes have highlighted failures in the public security strategy, Myard said, although he argued that rowdy English fans had seriously complicated the work of French police in the past. The French sports ministry held a meeting on Monday to look at what went wrong.
Liverpool fans stand outside unable to get in in time leading to the match being delayed prior to the UEFA Champions League final football match between Liverpool and Real Madrid at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on May 28, 2022
© AFP 2023 / THOMAS COEX
Russia's second largest city St. Petersburg won the right to host the UEFA final but the game was delayed over the pandemic and eventually moved to Paris after Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine.
A Russian football official and member of the national football governing body told Sputnik on condition of anonymity that the French had too little time to prepare for the big game.
"Our French colleagues simply had too little time to prepare, therefore, some miscalculations were unavoidable. As a person who was directly connected to the organization of the European Championships and national team games, I know that there is always room for miscalculations," he said.
The official wished France success in hosting the Olympics. He said he hoped that Russian athletes and football teams would return to international sports events despite the geopolitical standoff.
Most international sports organisations followed the International Olympic Committee’s guidance to exclude Russia's teams and athletes from competitions. Russian male and female football teams were removed from World Cup qualifiers.
