Topic: Paris

[jillcwhomever]

I've blocked loads - all City or Chelsea - for some reason clicked on his profile. Labour councillor. I'm still a member, I'm complaining about this one. Don't expect anyone else to get involved - apologies for posting here.

(There was a more directly victim blaming tweet also, and a like for 'it won't be their fault'.)

I missed the fact that he was a councillor initially, Millie is right he needs to be corrected here. As you say twitter is a hell hole and its only the great work by journalists and fans who were there which is making me stay on there.

[Indomitable_Carp]

I've blocked loads - all City or Chelsea - for some reason clicked on his profile. Labour councillor. I'm still a member, I'm complaining about this one. Don't expect anyone else to get involved - apologies for posting here.

(There was a more directly victim blaming tweet also, and a like for 'it won't be their fault'.)

I´m normally okay at blocking out the toxic social media fest, but I´m really struggling over this Paris thing to be honest. Don´t give a shit about people tearing into us for losing, or wetwipes not understanding the parade (thats all the standard shit that I can quite happiyl block out), but the victim blaming over this Paris thing makes my blood boil. Really makes you lose faith in a lot of humanity. I just have to try and step back and remind myself that social media isn´t everyone.

[lfcrule6times]

I´m normally okay at blocking out the toxic social media fest, but I´m really struggling over this Paris thing to be honest. Don´t give a shit about people tearing into us for losing, or wetwipes not understanding the parade (thats all the standard shit that I can quite happiyl block out), but the victim blaming over this Paris thing makes my blood boil. Really makes you lose faith in a lot of humanity. I just have to try and step back and remind myself that social media isn´t everyone.

They're all knobheads mate. I've tried to block but there's always a couple that I can't bite my tongue with and take the bait. I genuinely think these people actively want Liverpool fans to be at fault. They love it. If they could undo the Hillsborough vindication they would in a heartbeat.

[Levitz]

There was a few wrong´uns getting around the city in general. Most of my interactions with Parisians were very nice over the weekend (the Friday especially) - they seemed happy to see us and were cheering us on against Madrid. I have been to Paris a few times and had never seen people so friendly. But after the match finished the wrong´uns seemed to emerge.

There was a lad on our train home from the fanpark singing Benzema songs, clearly a nutter, very aggressively screaming in peoples faces (my girl mate included) and trying to start fights. He was next to the door so he eventually got booted off the train as the doors closed - although came running back up banging on the glass as the train took off.

To be honest I just get the impression Paris is a pretty rough place at night, and in general outside of the more touristy areas.

I would echo this about the people in Paris more generally over the weekend, thought they were welcoming and wanting us to win. Said to my mate earlier we had a lovely weekend until we got to the stadium.

[TeddyTime33]

I would echo this about the people in Paris more generally over the weekend, thought they were welcoming and wanting us to win. Said to my mate earlier we had a lovely weekend until we got to the stadium.

can attest to same about the locals in the city, hotel and restaurant staff were more than lovely

[redmark]

this prick is councillor for Broad Green in Croydon, not Liverpool.

I know - sorry, forgot there was a Broadgreen in Liverpool, didn't mean to imply that .

[Rhi]

Like many others, I was caught in some of this fucking shitshow on Saturday. I've been talking to friends today, and we have stumbled upon something which we think is one of the (many) root causes.

I arrived at the stadium with 4 others. 3 of them had tickets in the neutral end, me and my brother had tickets in our end (genuine tickets, from the ballot, as if it needed to be said ). My brother and I experienced the absolute joke at Gate Y, along with the various pepper spray / tear gas incidents. Also got caught in the pepper spray on our way back post-match. But we didn't go through the hell of that approach to the Gates that others did.

I believe a big reason we got "lucky" was that we were able to take the RER B, which was not at all busy when we took it at around 7pm. My understanding is that the RER B ran in two "sections" that day, due to the strike. One section TO Gare du Nord from the South. One section FROM Gare du Nord to the North (this is the approach to the Stade de France). HOWEVER, to change from RER B to RER B at Gare du Nord, you would have had to go up/down THREE FLOORS to find the right platform (see quote below). There was no information, signage or staff to direct people. In fact, of all the people I've seen saying they were directed somewhere, they were all directed to RER D rather than to the RER B.

The above issue is described in the quote below from a 2018 strike. Link provided. Quote is translated.

A “double penalty”. This is how the association of transport users in Ile-de-France describes the interruption of interconnection applied on strike days on the RER B, at the Gare du Nord. The latter constitutes the “border” between the part of the line managed by the RATP, to the south, and that managed by the SNCF, to the north. Concretely, this means that on strike days, you have to go down or up three floors to continue your journey on the RER B.

https://www.leparisien.fr/amp/info-paris-ile-de-france-oise/transports/la-rupture-d-interconnexion-sur-le-rer-b-fait-hurler-les-usagers-10-06-2018-7763820.ph

Another article from Le Parisien (link further down) suggests 37000 people took the RER D to the ground on Saturday, compared to 6000 on the RER B. For a “normal” event, they expect 10000 to take the D, and 15000 to take the B. So it was completely “flipped”, and then some. The reason for this flip was a partial strike on the RER B which caused the issues described in the above paragraph. The organisers at the Stade de France DID NOT CHANGE THEIR PLANS TO ACCOMMODATE THIS.

See the map below (credit to Pata, formerly of this parish) which illustrates this issue. They planned for 10k via the Red route, but got 37k. They planned for 15k via the blue route but got 6k. Eventually, they did stop directing everyone via the Red route and started directing people from RER D via the green route. If this had been done from 6.30pm... 



Here is the Le Parisien link with the numbers quoted above: https://www.leparisien.fr/seine-saint-denis-93/stade-de-france-la-greve-sur-le-rer-b-a-t-elle-contribue-au-chaos-la-ratp-rejette-toute-responsabilite-29-05-2022-VG4WI7AVHNA7RFQ627AIWSOHQA.php

Here's a Tweet from RER B telling everyone to take the RER D: https://twitter.com/RERB/status/1529841892929810434

To be clear, though, this (again, one of many) root cause doesn’t excuse how slow they were to react, their inability to deal with the violent local youths, the aggression the police showed, the lack of stewarding in the queues for the gates, or the lack of communication. This was ALL avoidable. It was ALL something they could have dealt with in good time if they'd have tried instead of just acting as if it was all our fault. It's fucking unacceptable. All of it. Heads should roll.



NOTE: Edited on 31/05/22 to reflect better understanding of how the RER B was running on matchday.

^^ Updated last night's post with a better rundown of the RER B/RER D issue.

This below post also relevant to this.

Tweet from RERB saying they had more trains straight to Stade de France between 7 and 8. This was what I saw.

https://twitter.com/RERB/status/1530589316065415176?t=Uu_APH71Z_oDiZWq8ld9CA&s=19

A shambles telling everyone to get there for 6pm via a different route then put extra trains on to the correct entrance after 7pm.

The checkpoint on this passageway to the concourse was not too bad.

Edit: why weren't UEFA working with transport and ping Liverpool fans to say travel after 7pm? Or why couldn't they put these trains on from 6pm?

[jayshields66]

Thanks Rhi

So if all fans were directed to line D between 5 and 6 and then held up in the underpass check, this could explain the 'fans arriving late'. Real fans arrived via Metro M meaning this changed to 'Liverpool fans arriving late'.

Actually fans who came early were held up more than those who came 'less early'. I'm not saying late because 1 to 2 hours before kick off is not late.

Then they abandoned the ticket validity checking at various points because they said they were overwhelmed with the number of fakes, I believe this is an outright lie. They just had one checkpoint overwhelmed with majority of fans with valid tickets. My friend is adamant that there were no checkpoints around certain parts of the ground and gangs were just walking on. He had a valid ticket from the club and didn't gain entry, told it was fake and tried numerous gates.

The abandoning of these checkpoints allowed the local gangs on to the concourse and they started to overwhelm the gates. Rushing them, crowding fans to pick pocket and bunking in the ground.

The police then closed the gates and we were kettled outside the gates with gangs picking people off and running amok.

The design of those gates is a joke too. They open outwards meaning we were told to move back a few times as they tried to open them, really really uncomfortable experience. Move back into the firing line of gangs and riot police.

There are probably many root causes like you say but this seems a significant failure to manage the distribution of fans to the ground, to the right entrances and throughout the hours before. The Wembley final tickets have recommended arrival times if I remember correctly. Advising everyone to get to Stade de France at 6pm via the same narrowed checkpoint was criminal.

[Son of Spion]

You just know that this will be used as a stick to beat Liverpool fans with, no matter the result of the inquiry. The French will keep throwing shit until some of it sticks. We have just become a pawn in French internal politics. Apparently 'Always the Victim' was trending on Twitter yesterday. So predictable. Tribalism always comes to the fore. Doesn't matter that this could have been any team, just like Hillsborough.

Of course it will be used by the utterly brainless as a stick to beat us with. It's classic confirmation bias. They're so desperately eager to hang all of this on the fans because it fits with their already established prejudices.

Mark my words on this, though. This mindless tribalism and rampant desire to believe lies over clear facts will result, at some point, in another football stadium disaster, and next time it won't be us, it will be one of those other fanbases. I'm absolutely convinced of it. It will happen.

This desire to believe lies and protect the guilty, then to heap the blame onto the victims is a recipe for disaster. It plays into the hands of the incompetent and the corrupt, and it leads to yet more complacency. We all know where all that eventually leads.

We have idiots desperately wanting and needing the responsibility to be heaped on us rather than those who actually caused the shameful problems. Thus they are also looking, by default, to absolve a disgraceful police force and an incompetent, corrupt and contemptuous UEFA of all responsibility.

The thing is it won't always be us in finals. It's not just us from England who play in Europe. We've seen other English fans have close shaves in Europe too, just as other fanbases had close shaves at Hillsborough as well, before 1989. Due mostly to the reputation of the Ingurland types abroad and the antics of many English clubs' fans abroad in the last century it appears that everyone from these shores going abroad to watch football is seen as fair game now, for both the locals and the police. Sadly, the divided nature of English fandom sees other fanbases actually celebrate when their English rivals are treated disgustingly when abroad. All the time, though, forgetting that one day it might just be them.

This willingness to believe only the lies, whilst discarding the truth because it doesn't fit the prejudice simply enables the incompetent, the corrupt and the sinister to get away with it, and this will come at great cost at some point further down the line. One day, it might very well be them or their loved ones caught up in a terrible disaster, and they'll wonder why it was ever allowed to happen.

Well, I'll tell them why. It will be because the genuinely guilty were ignored while the victims were blamed. It will be because the 'little people' actively colluded with the incompetent and the corrupt in order to score a few petty points off a rival in a childish game of 'banter'.

There will be another disaster, and it won't involve us. Sadly, those so desperate to blame us today and who were so desperate to blame us for Hillsborough are the turkeys voting for Christmas in this scenario. At some point, these chickens are going to come home to roost, and innocent people will die as a result. I can feel it in my water.

[wampa1]

I've been Paris many times and locals have told me St.Denis is not a place you want to go at the best of times.

There's a clip of Thiery Henry saying you don't want to be in St.Denis.

[pl_kop_1969]

Steve Rotheram, the Liverpool metro mayor had his phone and other stuff stolen too according to the Echo. The Echo article by Liam Thorpe says they were 'stolen by dippers', of course Thorpe would not have put that in but it shows you how 'local' the Echo is these days.

I saw Steve Rotheram on TV, can't remember which news program. He said he was 'dipped' to differentiate him bein pickpocketed from the muggings when the presenter said he'd been robbed.

[Ray K]

@MiguelDelaney
From AFP:

"Paris transport unions called Tuesday for a new strike to coincide with a French international football match, hailing the "success" of their action at the weekend that contributed to the chaos that marred the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid.

[TeddyTime33]

@MiguelDelaney
From AFP:

"Paris transport unions called Tuesday for a new strike to coincide with a French international football match, hailing the "success" of their action at the weekend that contributed to the chaos that marred the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid.

holy fuck

[redmark]

Another French media outlet, Mediapart (this time, a left-leaning investigative one) comes out against the official line; the subscription only article suggests officials within the Ministry of the Interior are 'embarassed' by 'absurd allegations'.

[redmark]

holy fuck

This is French politics. Exposing the violence of the police is a 'success'. We're collateral damage.

[Rhi]

@MiguelDelaney
From AFP:

"Paris transport unions called Tuesday for a new strike to coincide with a French international football match, hailing the "success" of their action at the weekend that contributed to the chaos that marred the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid.

Thanks for posting. Unbelievable.

[jayshields66]

@MiguelDelaney
From AFP:

"Paris transport unions called Tuesday for a new strike to coincide with a French international football match, hailing the "success" of their action at the weekend that contributed to the chaos that marred the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid.

Just wow

[jillcwhomever]

Miguel Delaney
@MiguelDelaney
·
15m
Which again points to a primary issue being the French state's inability to adjust to this.

Miguel Delaney
@MiguelDelaney
·
9m
And as was reported Sunday night, the domino effect of chaos started with Liverpool fans being directed to a station with just four corridors - rather than one with 16 - creating a bottleneck

French ministry accused of ‘prejudice against Liverpool fans’ after police tactics

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/liverpool-fans-police-champions-league-final-b2089992.html

[jayshields66]

Miguel Delaney
@MiguelDelaney
·
15m
Which again points to a primary issue being the French state's inability to adjust to this.

Miguel Delaney
@MiguelDelaney
·
9m
And as was reported Sunday night, the domino effect of chaos started with Liverpool fans being directed to a station with just four corridors - rather than one with 16 - creating a bottleneck

French ministry accused of ‘prejudice against Liverpool fans’ after police tactics

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/liverpool-fans-police-champions-league-final-b2089992.html

They adjusted but only sent a tweet that nobody would see and staff still telling people to go the wrong way...

[Son of Spion]

@MiguelDelaney
From AFP:

"Paris transport unions called Tuesday for a new strike to coincide with a French international football match, hailing the "success" of their action at the weekend that contributed to the chaos that marred the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid.

These twats are celebrating contributing to the chaos where only luck and exemplary behaviour from fans avoided fatalities? 

[Mister Flip Flop]

Jesus Christ I can't believe what I just read. They are calling what happened a success 

It's becoming apparent now that a lot of people in Paris including the police where hoping for some sort of disaster or riot to kick off Saturday. Future sporting events should be immediately removed from that venue its an absolute disgrace.

[WanderingRed]

This morning, representatives from Rangers met with Her Majesty’s Government to discuss the issues faced by our support in Seville before, during and after the Europa League Final.

We are grateful for this engagement and will continue to lobby on behalf of our supporters.

Not directly related but we’ve surely got to have a similar meeting

https://www.rangers.co.uk/Article/seville-supporter-update-310522/1sTMuWi5pPrSQxaZVufuBc

[redmark]

LBC picking up on the same rumblings within the French police and Interior Ministry that were in the Mediapart story -

https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/french-police-liverpool-fans-resignation/

Peter Allen, LBC's correspondent in Paris, told Nick Ferrari at Breakfast the mood with some interior ministry officials in the country was that comments slating Liverpool supporters on Saturday had brought "shame on France" and that inquiries into what happened should be preceded by resignations at the top.

They are also said to be "deeply embarrassed" about the way senior ministers have spoken about Liverpool fans.

"A lot of police chiefs" appear to be turning on Mr Darmanin, calling for him to resign.

Mr Darmanin had claimed there was "industrial scale" ticket fraud which led to delays at the stadium and that some British fans had "intruded" into the stadium.

But one senior official from the Gendarmerie, one of France's police forces, said attempts to justify what happened on Saturday "mark the bankruptcy of a ministry which does not know how to mark a sporting event" in quotes given to French media.

[Yorkykopite]

LBC picking up on the same rumblings within the French police and Interior Ministry that were in the Mediapart story -

https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/french-police-liverpool-fans-resignation/

Peter Allen, LBC's correspondent in Paris, told Nick Ferrari at Breakfast the mood with some interior ministry officials in the country was that comments slating Liverpool supporters on Saturday had brought "shame on France" and that inquiries into what happened should be preceded by resignations at the top.

They are also said to be "deeply embarrassed" about the way senior ministers have spoken about Liverpool fans.

"A lot of police chiefs" appear to be turning on Mr Darmanin, calling for him to resign.

Mr Darmanin had claimed there was "industrial scale" ticket fraud which led to delays at the stadium and that some British fans had "intruded" into the stadium.

But one senior official from the Gendarmerie, one of France's police forces, said attempts to justify what happened on Saturday "mark the bankruptcy of a ministry which does not know how to mark a sporting event" in quotes given to French media.

Didn't he also imply that Klopp was partly to blame? That and the Hillsborough slur show how out of control the French government is right now. They are the sort of comments that might have been raised in a 'dry run' for the press conference before someone with their head screwed on said "Are you stark-raving mad? You can't say things like that".

[Mighty_Red]

For all those who were in Paris, where were all the volunteers that you normally get at big events (gamesmakers etc)? Obviously there were none on the concourse but were there any in the main city and fanparks?

Seems a massive oversight Ive seen tens (or hundreds) of them lining routes from tube stations for minor events, giving directions etc let alone huge ones with a mass influx or foreign fans.

[pl_kop_1969]

Back to the forged tickets. For those of you who were there, was there evidence of lots of people buying tickets from touts over in Paris?

We were there from Thursday evening, didn't get offered any tickets in bars or at the fanzone on Saturday. Plenty of people asking if we had tickets and we either said no, or not all of us. Still no offers of tickets, fake or otherwise.

[★deb★, please ?]

oh no, are police chiefs turning?

like they are not responsible as well?

[banksybanks]

Which car park were you in? We were on the Indigo one near to Porte de Paris and it seemed fine.

We were in there, I think; the undergound one with the music playing, like an episode of Squid Games? Had to go down the metro steps and through a side door. Key code didn't work. Nearly had to break the door down in a panic!

[Levitz]

Back to the forged tickets. For those of you who were there, was there evidence of lots of people buying tickets from touts over in Paris?

We were there from Thursday evening, didn't get offered any tickets in bars or at the fanzone on Saturday. Plenty of people asking if we had tickets and we either said no, or not all of us. Still no offers of tickets, fake or otherwise.

Only saw people asking for 'tickets' and they looked like local touts. We did see people getting turned back from the early ticket check and the turnstiles and told their tix were 'fake' but it was a handful of people.

[redmark]

oh no, are police chiefs turning?

like they are not responsible as well?

Police chiefs from elsewhere in the country, I assume. From what I can gather the Paris police chief Didier Lallement and Darmanin are seen as a pair, both incompetent and equally culpable in Paris police brutality for several years.

There are also different police forces in France with different responsibilities, even in the same cities. I suspect the 'friendly' (or at least, non-violent) police people have mentioned around the fan park earlier in the day and elsewhere are not the same as the Mobile Gendarmerie used outside the ground (and it appears, breaking up the fan park).

[cdav]

  on way back got train at Station for RER B   that was only running one stop terminated at gare de nord then got a Rer B to luxemboug it seems trains were trains not running through on RER B was that the case for everyone

Same for us as well. Left bang on full time as thought it was going to be chaos with the riot police coming out at our end, just made it through the underpass as the police line closed it and legged it up to La Plaine Stade De France

Got on the train hoping to get to Chatelet but it terminated at Gare Du Nord and stopped at the platform. Asked the guide there and he had no idea if it was going onwards or back to the stadium. Didn't take the risk and got on the Metro back to my appartment- was a shambles all the way through

On the way to the stadium we missed the stop and got off at the Madrid end and didn't have any issues getting in thankfully. Through the outer perimeter checks quickly and able to walk around and get into gate Y. They closed it briefly when we were there but the queue wasn't bad and then reopened it

[jillcwhomever]

Police chiefs from elsewhere in the country, I assume. From what I can gather the Paris police chief Didier Lallement and Darmanin are seen as a pair, both incompetent and equally culpable in Paris police brutality for several years.

There are also different police forces in France with different responsibilities, even in the same cities. I suspect the 'friendly' (or at least, non-violent) police people have mentioned around the fan park earlier in the day and elsewhere are not the same as the Mobile Gendarmerie used outside the ground (and it appears, breaking up the fan park).

Loads of French people on twitter have been going on about the brutality of the police for years, and also complaining about the media not reporting it. At least the media are getting a backbone now and actually asking some awkward questions. It has to be said this government are digging such a hole for itself overall.

[jillcwhomever]

David Conn
@david_conn
·
May 29
Informative thread on last night in Paris: police kettling and tear gassing, attacks on Liverpool & Madrid fans after the match; confirms Uefa was fed the lies by the French authorities - but Uefa should not have then broadcast them unquestioningly ...

Chris Williams
@Chris78Williams
Spoken with a UEFA Events Coordinator this afternoon, who was on duty last night. Kettling at the LIV end of the stadium was undertaken without UEFA prior knowledge, by host authorities - it was not discussed in planning, only that ticket checks would be made en route. #UCLfinal

UEFA planned for  thoroughfare to the stadium to be the same at all ingress points, stadium staff were instructed to close the gates at Y and Z by police commanders after issues at Gate E, C and B. Isolated incidents at Gates H at RMA end also. #UCLFinal

Confirms UEFA are aware  of incidents created by pers ‘seemingly not associated with either club’ at Gates E and C #UCLfinal

Gates Y and Z became yo-yo openings as UEFA event mangers and Police instructions differed to stadium staff in charge of the gates. Eventually one turnstile was opened and remained open #UCLfinal

Acknowledged that initial reports of fans arriving late was passed by host authorities, once this became evident it was false, UEFA asked for explanation, ‘fake tickets’ info then passed by host auth. Said UEFA acknowledge fans arrived early and peaceful KO-3hrs. #UCLfinal

Use of teargas in and around the stadium is of ‘optimum concern’ to UEFA executive committee, who have asked for a full report from host authorities. #UCLfinal

As is the report into how both RMA and LIV fans were attacked in large numbers after the match on their way out of the stadium. Confirms UEFA have received complaints from both LIV and RMA representatives. #UCLfinal

[redmark]

RMC:

https://rmcsport.bfmtv.com/football/ligue-des-champions/chaos-au-stade-de-france-apres-liverpool-real-en-direct-suivez-les-infos-du-30-mai-2022_LN-202205300122.html

According to our information, 2800 counterfeit notes were scanned at the Stade de France. These were tickets credible enough to be presented to the stewards' machine at the 2nd screening. They were presented only on the doors of the English public. This real figure because verified by the scans is very significantly higher than what usually happens on this type of event where a few hundred counterfeit notes at most are listed. UEFA and the FFF have therefore deduced that there is a much higher volume of counterfeit notes in circulation and that an extrapolation deemed credible of about 30,000 people without tickets or with fakes has been established. As indicated yesterday to the Ministry of Sports, this order of magnitude has been confirmed by the RATP, the consortium of the Stade de France and the prefecture of police.

That's quite an extrapolation. Of course, we also know that valid tickets were rejected as 'fake', but then succeeded on a subsequent attempt; and that this included Andy Robertson's club allocation ticket.

[banksybanks]

For all those who were in Paris, where were all the volunteers that you normally get at big events (gamesmakers etc)? Obviously there were none on the concourse but were there any in the main city and fanparks?

Seems a massive oversight Ive seen tens (or hundreds) of them lining routes from tube stations for minor events, giving directions etc let alone huge ones with a mass influx or foreign fans.

The only 'helpers' I saw all day, were 3 people in the Porte de Paris metro station, helping people buy tickets in the morning. This turned out to be the station used by Madrid fans, which I wasn't aware of at the time

[redmark]

That's quite an extrapolation.

Also remarkably close to the 2,700 valid tickets the Minister of Sport accepted had not been activated.

[Indomitable_Carp]

We were there from Thursday evening, didn't get offered any tickets in bars or at the fanzone on Saturday. Plenty of people asking if we had tickets and we either said no, or not all of us. Still no offers of tickets, fake or otherwise.

Same. Wasn´t offered a fake ticket (or "legitimate " ticket) even once at the Fan Park, and nor did I speak to anyone who was planning to bunk in or knowingly go to the stadium with a fake ticket. That´s not to say that didn´t happen, but clearly was a tiny minority.

For all those who were in Paris, where were all the volunteers that you normally get at big events (gamesmakers etc)? Obviously there were none on the concourse but were there any in the main city and fanparks?

Seems a massive oversight Ive seen tens (or hundreds) of them lining routes from tube stations for minor events, giving directions etc let alone huge ones with a mass influx or foreign fans.

My memory of the fanpark was that there was a handful of volunteers directing people the right way through the metro station, and once past the police cordan to get into the fanpark.

However, I don´t remember seeing any volunteers at all between the metro station and the fanpark entrance, and certainly zero attempt to direct us to any sort of queuing system to get through the police cordon. I also remember very few, if any, stewards inside the fanpark itself. This would have been especially helpful when people were entering to watch the screening of the match, as everyone was gathering at the first screen and there was no one directing people down towards the screens further down.

Police chiefs from elsewhere in the country, I assume. From what I can gather the Paris police chief Didier Lallement and Darmanin are seen as a pair, both incompetent and equally culpable in Paris police brutality for several years.

There are also different police forces in France with different responsibilities, even in the same cities. I suspect the 'friendly' (or at least, non-violent) police people have mentioned around the fan park earlier in the day and elsewhere are not the same as the Mobile Gendarmerie used outside the ground (and it appears, breaking up the fan park).

There was a mixture of police at the fanpark. The Mobile Gendarmeries were certainly there as well, and were controlling the initial cordan/bottleneck in to check for booze. But to be fair to them, in the daytime at least, even they were good natured despite how chaotic the bottlenecks were. Even accidently bumped into one, which at the stadium sounded like it was enough to get you a baton round the head, but at the fankpark was met with a pat on the back.

After the match screening had finished however, the Gendarmeries were noticably more menacing. So what changed the attitude by that time I could not tell.

[Mighty_Red]

The only 'helpers' I saw all day, were 3 people in the Porte de Paris metro station, helping people buy tickets in the morning. This turned out to be the station used by Madrid fans, which I wasn't aware of at the time

That's a disgrace IMO, surely thats something that should be stipulated by UEFA for any final where both sets of supporters are coming from abroad is huge numbers. I guess they decided it'll be friendlier to have riot police instead.

I've seen loads going to Lords for a hundred match, maybe shows how valued football supporters are over there.

[jayshields66]

Also remarkably close to the 2,700 valid tickets the Minister of Sport accepted had not been activated.

it is indeed. In all the time from tube station to getting in the ground I saw one fan turned away for fake ticket.  I just cannot fathom this number of 30 to 40k fake tickets, it's lunacy.

[steashy]

Not sure this has any relevance to the awful things that went on at the stadium but though I’d share the tone set by the police.
there was 7 in our group and Saturday morning we went into Paris to see the sights and a few beers.
on our way back the metro we was waking up the champs elysees we’re I was approached by a few French police who stopped me and the female office was pointing at my top ( lfc top) then showed me a translation that I wasn’t allowed to wear it in the area.
There was 100’s of fans in lfc and Real Madrid tops which I was pointing out, then 2 other policeman surrounded me and told me to take it off and sent me down a side street to remove it and turn it inside out. just think they were to provoke a reaction from me but done as they asked and moved on as know how heavy handed they can get