Fraud accusation sparks UEFA inquiry

Champions League final marred by fake tickets

PARIS — French authorities defended police on Monday for indiscriminately firing tear gas and pepper spray at Liverpool supporters at the Champions League final, while blaming industrial levels of fraud that saw 30,000 to 40,000 people try to enter the Stade de France with fake tickets or none at all.

UEFA ordered an independent report that it said would “examine decision making, responsibility and behaviors of all entities involved in the final” and be made public.

After a meeting into Saturday’s chaos, the French ministers of the sport and the interior shifted responsibility onto the Liverpool fans while not providing details on how they were sure so many fake tickets were in circulation. People with legitimate tickets bought through Liverpool and UEFA reported struggling to access the stadium.

“There was massive fraud at an industrial level and an organization of fake tickets because of the pre-filtering by the Stade de France and the French Football Federation, 70% of the tickets were fake tickets coming into the Stade de France,” Interior minister Gérald Darmanin said. “Fifteen percent of fake tickets also were after the first filtering … more than 2,600 tickets were confirmed by UEFA as non-validated tickets even though they’d gone through the first filtering.”

The French sports ministry provided no evidence for its claims and it did not respond to a follow-up email after hosting a combative news conference.

“A massive presence of these fake tickets of course was the issue why there were delays,” Darmanin said. “Three times the beginning of the match was delayed.”

The final, which Liverpool lost 1-0 to Real Madrid, kicked off 37 minutes late.

Liverpool chief executive Billy Hogan said it was “completely inappropriate” for the French authorities to be forming conclusions and commenting on numbers so early.

“At this stage I think it’s just not responsible to be making comments before we’ve actually gathered all the information,” Hogan said. “How can (the number of fans without tickets) be quantified at this stage, before we’ve had an independent and transparent investigation? There’s also been quotes about people with fake tickets. But, again, how do we know all the facts until we’ve had an investigation?”

Hogan said Liverpool was “reviewing legal avenues” on behalf of supporters.

Tear gas and pepper spray was targeted at Liverpool fans, impacting children — a tactic defended by Darmanin to prevent deaths.

U.S. MEN: Djordje Mihailovic will miss the United States’ four World Cup prep matches in June because of an ankle injury, a blow to the 23-year-old who was hoping to make his first national team appearance in two years.

Mihailovic was hurt while playing for Montreal in a Major League Soccer game on Saturday night. The U.S. team said Monday he will not be replaced on the roster, which has 26 players remaining.

The Americans play exhibitions against Morocco on Wednesday in Cincinnati and against Uruguay on Sunday at Kansas City, Kansas.