Champions League final chaos leaves French official with ‘many regrets’

The French government official investigating the chaos at the Champions League final in Paris in which police used teargas and pepper spray against Liverpool fans admitted there were “many regrets” over what happened but said preparations had been robust.

Michel Cadot, the sports ministry’s delegate on major events, said those involved in planning for the match – including the French Football Federation and the police – had acted in a “strong and satisfactory” manner, but admitted the occasion was “an important failure that damages us”.

“The controlling of the crowd could have been better,” he told the senate, which has questioned the interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, and the sports minister, Amélie Oudéa-Castera.

During two hours with Cadot, the senate heard that in the run-up to the match there had been no particular concerns about hooliganism or any threat of violence. In short, it was not considered a particularly risky event, he said.

François-Noël Buffet, president of the law commission, asked about the police use of teargas, which Buffet said was “shocking” and from television images appeared had been used against fans who “posed no particular threat”. Cadot responded by saying the police had no choice given the “chain of events” and the arrival of a crowd of fans pushing against the grills at the entrance to the stadium. “It was the only response really adapted to avoid a more serious situation,” he told the committee.

He continued: “There are no miracle solutions; each country has its own approach to public order. In certain places where there is an accumulation of a crowd we could perhaps consider using mounted police to supervise [the situation],.”

Cadot said he had not seen the 25 May report by the National