Real Madrid’s Carvajal regrets crowd chaos ‘stain’ on Champions League final

Las Rozas, Spain, May 31 (EFE).- Real Madrid defender Dani Carvajal said he regretted that the disturbances outside the Stade de France over the weekend had “stained” the Champions League final.

Carvajal, who featured in the Spanish club’s 1-0 over Liverpool, said members of his family had also been affected by the disorganization and security risks at the stadium in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis.

“There was a considerable lack of control,” he told reporters at the Spain national team’s training ground just outside Madrid.

“Family members and close relatives, my parents, my wife and my son, had to stay at the gate of the stadium because their security situation could not be guaranteed inside the stadium,” he said.

“Inside, they told us that the delay (to the kickoff) was due to security reasons.

“It’s a shame that the final is stained. They need to take note and improve because there were people who suffered quite a bit and it should be a dream day. There were people who were unable to enjoy it.”

The Champions League final was delayed 36 minutes on Saturday night as ugly scenes unfolded mainly outside the Liverpool fan entrance to the stadium as a backlog of fans were further held up by a bottleneck, police controls and allegedly fake tickets.

As tensions rose, police sprayed tear gas and pepper spray, which in some instances affected children.

French government officials on Monday claimed that the chaos arose from a multitude of counterfeit tickets and the sheer number of Liverpool fans who headed to the vicinity of the Stade de France often without tickets to the game.

United Kingdom authorities, however, have called for an investigation into the treatment of Liverpool fans by French police and requested explanations from Uefa.

The official account given by French officials have been questioned by British journalists and Liverpool fans who experienced the ordeal first-hand.

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