France Holds Meeting To Prevent Repeat Of Champions League Chaos

France's sports ministry will host a meeting of security and football officials Monday following the chaos that marred the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid, as Paris prepares to host the 2024 Olympics. Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said they want to identify what went wrong to avoid a repeat of Saturday's scenes outside Paris' Stade de France.

The Liverpool club said it has called for an investigation into the treatment of its supporters ahead of the game, when thousands of ticket holders struggled to enter the stadium.

Police used tear gas and pepper spray on fans outside, while others managed to scale fences to access the stadium.

The scenes tarnished the image of the French capital, raising questions about its ability to host sporting events as it gears up for the 2024 sporting showpiece, as well as the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Oudea-Castera expressed regret that "some supporters who had tickets were not able to access the match".

Monday's meeting at the sports ministry, due to start at 0900 GMT, will involve European football governing body UEFA, French football chiefs and the French police.

"The priority now is to identify very precisely what went wrong... in order to learn all the lessons so that such incidents do not happen again at our future major international sporting events," said Oudea-Castera.

'Shameless attempts'

Her admission of possible shortcomings by the French authorities marked a more conciliatory stance, after officials initially lashed out at the Liverpool fans for the chaos.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Saturday "thousands of British 'supporters' either without tickets or with fake ones forced their way through and sometimes behaved violently towards