Crowds were forced to run from the French police in Paris after the Champions League final.
Thousands of LFC fans travelled to the French capital ahead the big match against Real Madrid on Saturday. ECHO reporter Charlotte Hadfield, who is in Paris, was near the Cours de Vincennes fan zone after the match when she said she had to run from police who began throwing cans of gas.
Charlotte said: "Riot police moved in a short time ago in this square and seemed to fire some sort tear gas which caused hundreds of fans having to disperse. It's not sure what prompted them to do that, but that was obviously quite distressing for fans having to run out of here quite quickly as the tear gas went into their eyes.
"The police presence in general in this area tonight has been very, very heavy and there has been quite a tense atmosphere I would say. There's been police on motorbikes travelling round and stationed at various points."
One LFC fan posted on Twitter: "Tear gassed and attacked by French Police with batons after the game. Disgusting behaviour by the authorities." Sol Simpson told the ECHO: "Before the game water cannons was already set up at the sides of the strip, riot vans galore.
"Seconds after final whistle we all start sneezing, just not really thinking what it was until our eyes were itching struggling to breath it caused absolute panic and chaos within the fan park of fans not knowing what’s exactly happening.
"Outside of the fan park French police all lined up in sections strategically with their riot armour batons and shields and plenty of vehicle support. We were totally surrounded and surrendered we lost a Champions League final and the last thing we wanted was trouble."
Sol said he was shocked at how the situation was handled, he said: "Well when you pay £700+ to go watch a game you don’t expect this treatment either such poor policing and absolute brutality fair enough if the fans did something to set this off but in the fan park they was no trouble all game and all day long."
Paris Police Prefecture previously posted on Twitter to say at 10.10pm on Saturday they evacuated 500 people from a bar called Irish Pub Bar near the Cours de Vincennes fan zone. Video of the scene sent in by an ECHO reporter shows riot police armed with shields outside the venue standing in line. Football fans can be seen walking around.
Police said the "situation calm again on the spot." A spokesperson for Préfecture de Police said in a statement on Twitter: "At 10:10 p.m., in a bar near the Cours de Vincennes fan zone, evacuation of 500 people at the request of the police. Situation calm again on the spot."
One of those people at bar was Stewart Paris, 50, who had been there since 11am today. He claims police "just came and shut the bar. Speaking to the ECHO, he said: “We’ve been here since 11 o’clock this morning. It was fine, friendly, happy. They literally just came and shut the bar.”
Stewart said he thinks the way the fan park has been policed has been “very aggressive”. He came out of the fan park at half time and police wouldn’t let him back in. He spent the second half of the match on his own split up from his friends and his phone had died.
He said police had riot shields and asked everyone in the Irish bar to leave but nothing had happened. One video before kick off appeared to show Liverpool fans being pepper-sprayed by French authorities ahead of the Champions League final.
Liverpool's Champions League final match against Real Madrid was delayed twice, following reports of major organisational issues outside the ground. Kick off was initially scheduled for 8pm UK time start but was pushed to 8.36pm.
It follows numerous reports of organisational problems at the stadium. UEFA blamed those individuals with 'fake tickets' for causing the chaos that caused the Champions League final to be delayed.
A UEFA message inside the ground initially said the kick-off had been delayed due to the "late arrival of fans at the stadium". Liverpool have already requested a "formal investigation" over what supporters were subjected to before the match.
The ECHO understands that the club insists the UEFA message about late arrival of Liverpool fans is totally inaccurate. Security concerns were raised with UEFA on numerous occasions ahead of the match.
It is also understood that senior officials from Liverpool officially requested for the kick-off to be delayed after lobbying UEFA. However, a UEFA statement released during the game in Paris, that Real won 1-0, claimed that supporters who 'had purchased fake tickets' were the reason why there was problems and why French police were forced to use tear gas.
“In the lead-up to the game, the turnstiles at the Liverpool end became blocked by thousands fans who had purchased fake tickets which did not work in the turnstiles,” a statement from UEFA read.
“This created a build-up of fans trying to get in. As a result, the kick off was delayed by 35 minutes to allow as many fans as possible with genuine tickets to gain access. As numbers outside the stadium continued to build up after kick off, the police dispersed them with tear gas and forced them away from the stadium.
“UEFA is sympathetic to those affected by these events and will further review these matters urgently together with the French police and authorities, and with the French Football Federation.” A statement released by Liverpool revealed that the Anfield club have requested a formal investigation from the governing body over the 'unacceptable issues' supporters had faced at the Stade de France.
A statement from Liverpool read: "We are hugely disappointed at the stadium entry issues and break down of the security perimeter that Liverpool fans faced this evening at the Stade de France. This is the greatest match in European football and supporters should not have to experience the scenes we have witnessed tonight.
“We have officially requested a formal investigation into the causes of these unacceptable issues.” Paris Police Prefecture also put out a statement, which said: "Before the meeting between the clubs of Liverpool and Real Madrid, many supporters without tickets for the match or holders of counterfeit tickets have disrupted access to the Stade de France, at the level the outer security perimeter.
"Exerting strong pressure to penetrate the enclosure, these supporters delayed the access of spectators with tickets. Taking advantage of this action, a certain number of people managed to cross the gates protecting the stadium grounds.
"The rapid intervention of the police allowed the return to calm and the evacuation of the disturbers outside the forecourt of the Stade de France The dispersal of the spectators takes place without difficulty. No major incident was observed in the two fan zones."
Liverpool were denied a seventh European cup as Real Madrid won the 2022 Champions League final, with Real Madrid winning by one goal.
