- Australia moves to expand Antarctic marine park
- Tragedy of Madrid street sweeper highlights how heatwaves kill
- Survivors wait for aid as Trump's lies help cloud Helene response
- Fleeing Israeli bombs, Lebanon's displaced met with suspicion
- Jila Mossaed, from refugee poet to Swedish Academy
- Will Tesla's robotaxi reveal live up to hype?
- Drugs, people smuggling at heart of Mexico's raging violence
- 'Invisibility' and quantum computing tipped for physics Nobel
- Musk says he is 'all in' on Trump in US election
- Category 5 Hurricane Milton roars towards storm-battered Florida
- Carpenter bomb stuns Guardians as Tigers level series
- Harris, Trump and Biden mark Oct. 7 attacks as US election looms
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street falls
- US judge orders Google to open Android to rival app stores
- On attacks anniversary, Israel fights 'sacred' multi-front war
- Nobel scientist uncovered tiny genetic switches with big potential
- Grammy-winning Cissy Houston, mother of Whitney, dies at 91
- UN biodiversity summit in Colombia aims to turn words into action
- Georgia Supreme Court reinstates six-week abortion ban
- 'Dark day': Victims mourned around the globe on Oct. 7 anniversary
- On attacks anniversary, Israel fights multi-front war
- Mexican mayor murdered days after taking office
- Intensifying to Category 5, Hurricane Milton targets Florida
- Mission to probe smashed asteroid launches despite hurricane
- Biden, Harris mark Oct. 7 with call for Mideast peace
- Dupont set for Toulouse return after post-Olympic holiday
- French rugby bosses tighten discipline after nightmare Argentina tour
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street slips
- Visitors to get rare view of Rome's Trevi Fountain
- Europe's asteroid mission Hera launches despite hurricane
- Man City and Premier League both claim victory in legal case
- Deschamps delight as 'light back on' for Pogba after doping ban
- Biden, Harris urge Mideast peace on Oct. 7 anniversary
- Neeskens, tough midfielder in Cruyff's Ajax and Dutch teams
- UN warns world's water cycle becoming ever more erratic
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street retreats
- Ex-Dutch football star Johan Neeskens dies
- Man Utd battling to improve fortunes, says Evans
- What is microRNA? Nobel-winning discovery explained
- Masood, Abdullah centuries lift Pakistan to 328-4 in first England Test
- Hurricane Milton strengthens fast, threatens Mexico, Florida
- Tunisia's President Saied set for landslide election win
- Barca hoping to return to Camp Nou 'by end of year'
- Trump to open second golf course at Scotland resort in summer 2025
- Super-sub Jhon Duran rewarded with new Aston Villa deal
- US duo win Nobel for gene regulation breakthrough
- Masood hits first ton for four years to power Pakistan to 233-1
- Fritz wins delayed match to reach Shanghai Masters third round
- Naomi Osaka pulls out of Japan Open with back injury
- Weather may delay launch of mission to study deflected asteroid
RBGPF | -1.97% | 58.94 | $ | |
SCS | -0.15% | 12.95 | $ | |
RYCEF | -1.45% | 6.88 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.53% | 24.57 | $ | |
NGG | -1.56% | 65.48 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.09% | 24.79 | $ | |
VOD | 0.31% | 9.69 | $ | |
RIO | -0.11% | 69.62 | $ | |
RELX | -0.54% | 46.04 | $ | |
BCC | 1.68% | 141.27 | $ | |
JRI | -0.76% | 13.18 | $ | |
GSK | -0.49% | 38.63 | $ | |
BCE | -0.54% | 33.53 | $ | |
AZN | -0.78% | 76.87 | $ | |
BP | 0.78% | 33.14 | $ | |
BTI | -0.26% | 35.2 | $ |
France seeks to 'learn lessons' from Champions League fiasco
France's sports ministry was to host a meeting of security and football officials Monday following the chaos that marred the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid, seeking to ensure no repeat of the scenes as Paris prepares for the 2024 Olympics.
Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera, speaking ahead of the meeting, again placed responsibility on Liverpool for the mayhem on Saturday but also acknowledged that lessons had to be learned.
The French government has faced a barrage of criticism from press and politicians in the UK over police handling of the match, which saw thousands of Liverpool fans with tickets struggling to enter.
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.
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.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin and Paris police chief Didier Lallement will be in attendance.
Lallement has called for a formal investigation into the production of fake tickets, which he said had helped caused the problems.
- 'Shameless attempts' -
Oudea-Castera told RTL radio that Liverpool, in contrast to Real Madrid, had failed to properly organise the supporters who came to Paris.
"Liverpool left its supporters on the loose, this is a major difference," she said.
The minister added that there had been 30,000-40,000 Liverpool fans with fake tickets or without tickets outside the Stade de France.
"We need to see where these fake tickets came from... and how they were produced in such large numbers," she said.
She said "that the most regrettable aspect of what happened" was that tear gas was used against families and children who came to watch the final.
She insisted that France was capable of hosting major sporting events.
"I am not worried, I am very committed that we learn absolutely all the lessons from what happened on Saturday evening to improve everything" ahead of these major events, she said.
Liverpool said they were "hugely disappointed" that their supporters had been subjected to an "unacceptable" breakdown of the security perimeter.
"We have officially requested a formal investigation into the causes of these unacceptable issues," the club said.
The Liverpool Echo newspaper argued that poor organisation and not the Liverpool fans was to blame.
Britain's Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries urged UEFA to launch "a formal investigation into what went wrong and why".
- 'Absolute disgrace' -
The French interior ministry said 105 people had been detained, of whom 39 were placed under arrest and remanded in custody, meaning they could face charges.
Aurore Berge, a deputy for President Emmanuel Macron's ruling party, said Paris had "barely three months" to get ready for the final, which it was awarded after Saint Petersburg was stripped of the event due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Police fired tear gas after several dozen people attempted to climb over barriers, according to an AFP reporter on the scene. Security staff had to round up about 20 fans who had scaled the fence and got into the ground.
UEFA blamed "fake tickets which did not work in the turnstiles" for the chaos, which caused a 35-minute delay to the final, eventually won by Real Madrid.
Labour MP for Liverpool area Ian Byrne, who was present in Paris, told Sky News that the fans had been treated "like animals".
"It was horrific -- there's no other words to describe it. It was absolutely horrific and as someone who was at Hillsborough in 1989, it brought so many terrible memories flooding back," he said.
In another instance of football trouble in France, angry Saint-Etienne fans invaded the pitch after were they were relegated from Ligue 1 on Sunday in their play-off against Auxerre, with French police using tear gas.
M.A.Colin--AMWN