Paris police have tender an unreserved apology to fans that were teargassed when trying to enter Stade de France to watch the UEFA Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool on May 28, 2022.
Didier Lallement, who is the Paris police chief, regretted issuing such an order that caused chaos and ridiculed the image of the country.
According to Lallement on Thursday at the Senate, the decision became the last resort under such hectic circumstances.
“It is obviously a failure. It was a failure because people were pushed around and attacked. It was a failure because the image of the country was undermined,” he said.
Read Also: NDLEA proposes drug tests for NYSC members
To assert his claim, the Police chief stressed that about 40,000 fans had no ticket which is the only authorised means for anyone to be allowed into the arena to watch the prestige final.
He added that some of the fans smartly came with fake tickets to beat security checks to gain entrance into the stadium but were rightly spotted.
Although, Lallement was unable to substantiate his claim according to reports by the British media.
Lallement said, “The figure has no scientific virtue but it came from feedback from police and public transport officials.
“Maybe I was wrong, but it was constructed from all the information harvested.
“Whether there are 30,000 or 40,000 people, it doesn’t change anything. What matters is that there were people, in large numbers, likely to disrupt the proper organization of the filtering. But that we count them precisely to within 5000, it doesn’t change much,” he added.
The report revealed that Lallement’s apology comes after officials of Liverpool are set to meet with the Chairman Review of the UEFA Champions League final to satisfy themselves that the process is unbiased.
