A Liverpool MP has called for an official investigation into the handling of the Champions League final.
Liverpool West Derby Member of Parliament Ian Byrne has spoken out after hundreds of Liverpool FC supporters claimed they were tear-gassed or pepper sprayed by French riot police as they waited to get into the stadium on Saturday evening. Now Mr Byrne has called for an investigation to prevent a repeat of the chaos which delayed kick off.
Speaking to Sky News today Mr Byrne said: "I think we've got to make sure that the scenes that we experienced on Saturday are never ever replicated again at any sporting occasion. The Stade de France holds many different sporting finals - it's got the Rugby World Cup, the Olympics (2024).
READ MORE: Liverpool fans forced to run from French police after Champions League final
"We need to make sure that lessons are learned from what happened."
Mr Byrne spoke out after French politicians continued to blame some Liverpool fans for contributing to the chaos.
France's Sport Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said that a large number of Liverpool fans gathered outside the ground without tickets or with fake tickets.
Speaking to French radio RTL, she said: "What we really have to bear in mind is that what happened, first of all, was this mass gathering of the British supporters of the Liverpool club, without tickets, or with fake tickets."
The minister also blamed local youths for contributing to the problems. She said: "A certain number of youths from the nearby area who were present tried to get in by mixing in with the crowd."
Merseyside Police officers deployed to work the match in Paris said the vast majority of fans behaved in an 'exemplary manner'. They added that fans arrived at the turnstiles early and queued as directed.
ECHO reporter Charlotte Hadfield, who was 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.
The Mayor of Liverpool Joanne Anderson has released a statement on the "brutal" treatment of fans by French Police and is calling for a full investigation.
She said: "Disgusted by appalling management & brutal treatment of LFC fans by French police & Stade De France staff at the Champions League final. I'm writing to Foreign Sec Liz Truss requesting answers from UEFA and for President Emmanuel Macron to investigate. Shameful to pin blame on fans."
Britain’s minister for sport, Nadine Dorries, also urged Uefa to launch an investigation.
