Still scalded by the Champions League final against Real Madrid (0-1) in Saint-Denis, which gave rise to scenes of chaos before the match, the president of Liverpool Tom Werner wrote his indignation to the minister French Sportswoman Amélie Oudéa-Castera.

In question, the remarks on Monday by Ms. Oudéa-Castera and the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin who repeated what they have been saying since Saturday evening: British supporters are largely responsible for the incidents, with “massive, industrial fraud and organized counterfeit banknotes”. The sports minister further said that Liverpool “have left their supporters in the wild”.

These charges bring back to Liverpool supporters the horrible memories of the Hillsborough disaster which left 97 dead in 1989 in a mob for which Reds fans had long been held responsible before the bad decisions of the police. are not recognised.

“Your comments are irresponsible, unprofessional and totally disrespectful,” wrote Tom Werner in his letter to Amélie Oudéa-Castera, a copy of which was obtained by the local daily Liverpool Echo. “On behalf of all the fans who went through this nightmare, I ask for an apology from you,” he added.

The Minister of Sports replied at midday on Tuesday, stating that she had not yet received the letter from Liverpool but opening the door to the beginning of a mea culpa.

“We have Liverpool supporters who were completely in order, whose evening was either ruined or some of them were unable to attend this match, and there we clearly owe them an apology”, she said. said.

– Disputed figures –

However, the figures put forward by the French government have been widely criticized, in England as in France.

According to Gérald Darmanin, “30,000 to 40,000 English supporters found themselves at the Stade de France, either without a ticket or with falsified tickets”.

This situation has, according to the authorities, contributed to significantly inflate the crowd which thronged at the gates of the Stade de France and led to endless queues, a massive congestion which did not cause any serious injuries.

For the time being, the French Football Federation and UEFA have estimated the number of “counterfeit tickets scanned” at “2,800” on Saturday, sources familiar with the matter told AFP on Tuesday, confirming information from RMC Sports.

But among these 2,800 fake tickets, there may be real tickets that have been activated incorrectly, according to Pierre Barthélémy, lawyer for groups of French supporters present at the stadium on Saturday. “There were breakdowns, computer bugs at the gates which caused some real banknotes to be scanned as fakes,” he told AFP.

“30 to 40,000 fake tickets, that seems very, very big to me”, commented the former deputy Generation (s) Regis Juanico, specialist in sports issues. “I await the hearing of the two ministers on Wednesday in the Senate to find out more”. The meeting is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.

The intelligence services had for their part alerted the authorities before this final.

Dated May 25, a note from the National Division for the Fight against Hooliganism (DNLH) written in conjunction with the intelligence services, of which AFP became aware, reported “about 50,000 English supporters present in the French capital (who) will not be ticket holders”.

The chaos at the Stade de France contrasted with the festive atmosphere experienced in the two “fan-zones” deployed on Saturday, in particular that of the Cours de Vincennes where 45,000 Reds supporters communed in a “friendly and respectful atmosphere” hailed by Richard Bouigue , elected (PS) of the 12th arrondissement.

– Next match Friday at the Stade de France –

On the judicial level, six men will be tried in Bobigny for thefts to the detriment of supporters on the sidelines of the final.

And, with the approach of the legislative elections (June 12 and 19), the affair took a highly political turn, in particular on France’s ability to organize major sporting events one year from the 2023 Rugby World Cup and two years of the Olympic Games in Paris.

Deputy LR Eric Ciotti thus demanded the creation in the National Assembly of a commission of inquiry into the incidents.

All eyes are now on the next match at the Stade de France, France-Denmark in the League of Nations on Friday (8:45 p.m.), a priori sold out.

RATP trade union organizations have launched a new call for a strike on RER B for Friday, after their movement on Saturday which may have accentuated the dysfunctions, since many Reds supporters had fallen back on RER D, a source of bottlenecks on arrival.

The boss of the 2024 Olympics Tony Estanguet wanted to be reassuring: he explained to AFP that it was necessary to “learn the lessons” from the fiasco at the Stade de France, which will host the athletics events, while ensuring that all the world would be “ready” in two years.

sm-dec-cto-jed/ll/lve