France blames 'massive' ticket fraud for Champions League fiasco

Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid that raised questions over the capacity of Paris to host the 2024 Olympics. The French government has faced a barrage of criticism from press and politicians in Britain over police handling of the match on Saturday, which saw thousands of Liverpool fans with tickets struggling to enter. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesman told reporters in London many Liverpool fans were in the French capital "in good time". "We're hugely disappointed by how they were treated," the spokesman added. "Fans deserve to know what happened."

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is hugely disappointed by how Liverpool soccer fans were treated at the Champions League final in Paris, his spokesman said on Monday, describing footage of crowd trouble at the match as upsetting and concerning.

But after a crisis meeting at the sports ministry, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin defiantly insisted that ticket scams and the behaviour of Liverpool fans was to blame. "What has been confirmed is a massive, industrial-scale and organised fraud in fake tickets... this was the root cause of the delay to the match," Darmanin said, also charging that Liverpool fans had been less well-organised than their Spanish counterparts. Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said French authorities were "extremely sorry" for the approximately 2,700 fans with tickets that were unable to enter the Stade de France because of the crowd control problems and suggested they receive compensation. The scenes tarnished the image of the French capital, raising questions about its ability to host major sporting events as it