A partner of Real Madrid, the Franco-Spanish Emilio Dumas, denounced this Tuesday before the French Senate the inertia of the French police in the face of the robberies suffered by many fans in their access to the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.
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“I have never seen such a passive and inactive attitude on the part of the police,” lamented Dumas, who spoke in French in a videoconference before the commission of inquiry into the riots before the Champions League final on May 28 between Liverpool and Real Madrid, played in Saint-Denis.
“I don’t understand why the final is in Saint-Denis, in a neighborhood with so much crime,” added the Madridista member, who is over 30 years old and who attended the Saint-Denis final with three Spanish friends. The man said he felt “ashamed of the image” of France.
Dumas clarified that Liverpool fans were “very peaceful and correct” and acknowledged “not understanding” the accusations of Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who blamed the riots on British supporters.
Outrage in Liverpool
For their part, spokesmen for Liverpool fans denounced “the aggressiveness” of the French police and accused Darmanin of treating the fans of the British club “like hooligans from the 80s.”
Joe Blott, president of the Spirit of Shankly association, emphasized the unjustified use of tear gas by the French police.
“Stigmatization” by the Hillsborough tragedy
According to Blott, the French authorities thought “they were all hooligans from the 1980s, certainly influenced by the propaganda of the Hillsborough tragedy”, alluding to the avalanche in which 97 people died in 1989 in a match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. .
The president of the fans lamented the “stigmatization” that the ‘reds’ followers have suffered since then, to whom that tragedy of 33 years ago was attributed.
They demand the resignation of the Minister of the Interior
Harder was Ted Morris, representative of Liverpool fans with disabilities, who even asked for Darmanin’s resignation. “I ask him to withdraw his wild and unfounded accusations, and if he does not have the decency to do so, he must choose the most honorable solution and resign.”
Morris recounted several of the thousands of incidents reported to him, including tear gas attacks on children affected by autism or multiple sclerosis. “We will never forgive the attitude of the (French) authorities, no fan is responsible for what happened,” Morris added.
The investigation commission set up by the Gallic Senate continues its course, although it has already published its first conclusions in which it warned of the “lack of preparation” in the device set up for the final.