PARIS, Jun 28 French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin apologizes for the first time to all who were victims of the poor organization of the Champions League final in the suburbs of Paris on May 28. «Should the Stade de France have been better organized? Yes. Do I have a share of responsibility for this? Yes. I apologize to everyone who suffered from this mismanagement,» Darmanin said on RTL radio on Tuesday. He added that the fight against crime should be intensified. Earlier, the head of the Paris police, Didier Lalman, admitted his mistake in organizing the work of law enforcement officers in the stadium area. At the Stade de France on May 28 hosted the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool (1:0). Before the start of the match, French police fired tear gas at Liverpool fans who were trying to break into the stadium. According to France Presse, some fans were without tickets. Videos circulating on social media show them climbing over fences, evading stewards and running into the arena. Due to security issues, the game started with a delay of 37 minutes. Parisian police detained 105 rioters on the night of May 29. The interior minister said that about 70% of paper tickets for the Champions League final match, according to a preliminary check, were fake. The country's sports minister, Amelie Oudea-Castera, opined that the situation at the match was out of control because of Liverpool fans and UEFA's decision to issue paper tickets for the match. According to her, from 30 to 40 thousand British fans came to the Stade de France either with fake tickets or without them at all. Initially, the Champions League final was supposed to take St. Petersburg, but due to the aggravation of the situation in Ukraine, UEFA decided take away the right to host the match from the Russian city.
