Paris police chief Didier Lallement has revealed that he feels ashamed from the chaos of the 2021 UEFA Champions League final at the Stade de France as his tenure as chief of Paris police came to an end today.
The Frenchman and other members of the Paris police force, alongside organizers of the top European competition have been criticized because of the ugly incidents that happened during Liverpool‘s clash with Real Madrid on May 28. The 65-year-old was one of the persons who falsely blamed Liverpool supporters for what happened that day, as he stated that they started the trouble.
The horrible incident which happened on May 28 saw many supporters from both clubs being denied entry into the stadium even with their tickets and some were tear-gassed by riot police officers. However, the French Senate has issued a report which stated that Liverpool supporters didn’t cause the chaos, Didier Lallement has also apologized for his previous statement.
But the police chief was set to leave his post before his 66th birthday celebration. Thus he will step down with a lot of criticisms that emanated from the chaos of the UEFA Champions League final.
Lallement has released a statement to other police officers, saying: “I’m still wounded from the failure of the Stade de France. “Certainly, that evening, we saved lives but the reputation of the country was damaged. That the French flag has been sullied is a pain for me and a responsibility that I must assume.”
🚨 NEW: Didier Lallement will be officially replaced as chief of Paris police on Thursday, saying he was left “wounded by the failure” at the Stade de France in the Champions League final. #lfc [sky]
— Anfield Watch (@AnfieldWatch) July 21, 2022
The French Senate has earlier revealed that the organization of the big event has some systematic failings such as “several flaws in the directing and management of the crowd”. They also stated that Liverpool supporters were not the cause of the incident after France’s Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, had blamed 40,000 ticketless fans.
Meanwhile, Liverpool have set up a support arm for their supporters who had been traumatized by the ugly incident and also an opportunity for them to speak out about what happened. Such complaints will be submitted to the French Senate inquiry because some supporters were attacked and injured outside the ground.
However, the French Senate co-chairman Laurent Lafon has disclosed that Liverpool supporters are not responsible for what happened that day. He added that the number of people around the stadium did not cause all the chaos as he claimed that there was a chain of administrative errors.
