French Minister Apologizes to Liverpool Fans for 2022 Champions League Final Blame

France’s former interior minister Gerald Darmanin has apologized to Liverpool fans for wrongly blaming them for the chaos at the Stade de France during the 2022 Champions League final in Paris.
Darmanin, now serving as the justice minister, admitted that security arrangements for the final between Liverpool and Real Madrid were inadequate, and that his previous public remarks blaming English fans were a mistake in reports carried by British media on Monday.
Fans were caught in dangerous crowd congestion outside the Stade de France before the match, which was delayed for over 30 minutes. French police were filmed using tear gas on fans, who complained of heavy-handed treatment as they were herded into pens outside the stadium.
Darmanin held a joint press conference with other French ministers two days after the match, and blamed the disorder on “English fans” and their possession of fake tickets.
He has now retracted his comments and called the night “the biggest failure” of his career in an interview on the French Legend show on YouTube, Reuters reported.
“What I did not appreciate that evening was that the real problem was not coming from English supporters, but from delinquents who were robbing fans,” he said.