The kick-off time for this evening's Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid was delayed due to a struggle to get fans inside the stadium for the game.
There were some dangerous looking scenes outside the ground as supporters attempted to make their way into the Stade de France.
Incredible scenes outside Stade de France with Liverpool fans struggling to enter.
It is pointed that approx 30k Liverpool fans more came to Paris ticketless.
French police definitely had some logistics issue, 30 minutes to go and half Liverpool stand still empty #LFCRMA pic.twitter.com/j4YmVLkatG— Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) May 28, 2022
Le filtrage du Stade de France n’a pas fonctionné comme prévu avant d’atteindre le parvis @RMCsport pic.twitter.com/iyTqj05KAk
— Nicolas Pelletier (@npelletier18) May 28, 2022
Police were attempting to usher people inside the ground, but with fears for the safety of those involved, the decision was taken to delay the match until 9:15pm local time.
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A number of people who were outside the ground at the time were concerned with what they were witnessing.
Absolutely dreadful organisation at Stade de France. Here two and a half hours early, 1000s still outside. Police herded fans into dangerous bottleneck in underpass. Now gates shut with fans with tickets all stuck outside. Disgrace @uefa
— Andy Kelly (@AndyK_LivNews) May 28, 2022
Absolutely shambolic at the Stade de France. No way in, no way of knowing which way to go. Stay safe if you’re heading in ❤️
It has the potential to be very dangerous.— Kelly Cates (@KellyCates) May 28, 2022
Finding it impossible to get in the ground. This appears to be very dangerous. Absolute carnage.
— Gary Lineker 💙💛 (@GaryLineker) May 28, 2022
It has been rumoured that a number of supporters without fans attempted to gain access to the stadium, which added to the issue.
However, it seems that the poor organisation of the route for supporters has also played a large part in the game being delayed.
The PA announcer has just told a complete lie that the match is delayed due to late arrival of fans. This chaos has been building up since 7pm. Thousands of Liverpool fans have spent 90 mins negotiating inappropriate checkpoints. This is on UEFA and Stade de France
— Rob Draper (@draper_rob) May 28, 2022
Absolutely carnage , gates locked so so dangerous @JamesPearceLFC @DaveOCKOP not letting people @StadeFrance @UEFAcom this is crazy pic.twitter.com/HdnUb7bSZo
— Joby kelly ⚽️ YNWA ⚽️ (@JobyKelly) May 28, 2022
This Liverpool fan described the poor way the game had been policed, while his travelling companion said that it was far worse than he had seen at other Champions League finals.
Fans furious outside the Stade de France over hours of queues and crushes with the area struggling to cope with #UCLfinal pic.twitter.com/h0wibfvf4v
— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) May 28, 2022
It's absolutely horrendous.
It's a bottleneck down there. There's literally a six-foot gap for 20,000 Liverpool fans to get in. We've been absolutely push and pilloried to the place.
I've got an 82-year old father-in-law here and it's just madness. There are thousands out here behind us.
It would soon be confirmed that French police had used tear gas on some Liverpool supporters, with those on the scene claiming that those involved were very harshly treated.
Update Paris: Massive chaos in front of the stadium. The brother of Joel Matip, Marvin, had to flee with his family while they tried to get access in the stadium. His wife is pregnant. Tear gas! They had to take refuge in a restaurant. @SkySportDE
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) May 28, 2022
BBC reporter Nick Parrott said the force used by French police was completely unnecessary.
"This is the first time I've been pepper-sprayed at a football game! The Liverpool fans are behaving themselves!"
BBC reporter @NickParrottTV is outside of the Stade de France trying to get into the stadium ⬇️#BBCFootball #UCLFinal— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) May 28, 2022
Journalist Dominic King emphasised that the Liverpool fans were not in the wrong in this situation.
"I need to get this point across, there's no violence or antagonism from Liverpool fans!"
"Kids and elderly people have been pepper sprayed!"@DominicKing_DM joins us at the Stade de France ⬇️#BBCFootball #UCLFinal— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) May 28, 2022
While the full details of what occurred have yet to be confirmed, this does not reflect well on the organisers. The Champions League final between these two sides back in 2018 featured little crowd trouble, meaning you would not expect much unruly behaviour amongst the supporters.
Not what you need on football's biggest stage.
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